Tattoo
by wade wells
Summary: Someone is out to seek revenge on Lance. Keith and Allura must find a way to stop this evil from harming their friend.
1. Memorial

Welcome to Episode 3! I hope you have liked the first two stories because we still have a while to go before the ending.

I want to thank my friend Mertz and CMS. Without their input, suggestions and proofreading, my writing wouldn't improve. Thanks girls!

For those who read my stories, CMS is working on something pretty cool. Watch for it!

Well, here we go….

Darkness consumes him. He walks into the cold, wet, darkness not knowing where he is or where he's headed. A dim dark blue light appears further in front of him; he follows it. As he walks towards the light, he starts seeing shapes…figures; but he can't make out what they are. Colder and colder it gets as he walks deeper. He stumbles, something trips him; but he manages to stay on his feet.

He knows he shouldn't be here and tries to find an exit. He searches…nothing! There's nothing but pure blackness and hollow emptiness. He feels drops coming down on him. They're on his shoulders, his hair and his face, sprinkling all around him like rain. Rain from nowhere.

He hears a whispering echo,_'It's your fault…_'

He hears it again, spoken more quickly, _'It's your fault, it's your fault, it's your fault!' _

He looks around, darkness is speaking to him.

He shivers, not knowing whether it is him or the coldness that lurks around him.

_'It's your fault, it's your fault, it's your fault!'_

Another light appears to his right. A figure sits on a chair; its back facing him. He walks slowly, calls it, but the figure doesn't respond. As he comes closer, it seems familiar to him; he turns the chair around and sees Meghan staring at him blankly.

"Meghan," he whispers. "We need to get out of here."

He taps her shoulder and her head falls off, a piece of skin desperately clinging to the head to keep it from falling to the ground.

He screams as he steps back. Her head suddenly lifts a bit and looks directly at him.

_'It's your fault, it's your fault, it's your fault_." she quickly says before her head dangles once again.

He keeps stepping back, afraid to turn around, he falls. He lands on the even colder wet floor; the stench of iron surrounding him.

Suddenly, a figure appears and extends its hand to him.

He takes it, and with the help of the figure he rises.

"Who are you?"

The figure ignores the question and asks one himself.

"Tell me Commander, what does it feel like to kill someone?"

Keith steps back.

"Who the hell are you?" He asks roughly.

"You know who I am Keith. You let me die in that piece of shit aircraft, remember?" says the figure as he steps closer to Keith and reveals himself.

"Mike?" Keith says pulling back, but Mike grabs him by the front of his uniform and pulls him towards his face.

"You pathetic son of a bitch!" he yells. "You ruined my existence. You're the one who should be dead!"

Keith's heart pounds hard as he sees Mike's mangled face, completely burned beyond recognition. One of his eyes droops, but he can see the hatred in it. The other eye is gone from its socket. He has no lips and most of his teeth are missing. He looks at Keith with pure disgust.

"Mike, please, I'm sorry…I tried…believe me I tried." Keith says forcing himself to speak beyond the panic he's feeling.

"Liar!" Mike screams and throws him with an inhuman strength to the floor. Keith tries to get away from this monster, but the floor is so wet and slippery that he slips again and is unable to stand.

Mike, however, has no problem; he grabs Keith by the collar of his uniform and lifts him. He turns him around and punches him in his face.

Keith falls backward, lands face up, and hits his head on the floor, the pain unbearable. Suddenly the lights brighten around him. He opens his eyes and tries to focus on his location. It's the Ulysses' bridge. The figures that he couldn't make out before are now clear to him.

They are the officers of the Ulysses, all dead. Some are on the chairs of the ship while others lie on the floor. Their bodies are mangled, body parts surround him. The floor is drenched with blood; he himself is full of it. He lifts himself up as quickly, his heart feels like it will explode out of fear, he's nauseous; the smell of blood consuming him.

_'It's your fault, it's your fault, it's your fault' _whispering echoes call out.

He feels something touch the back of his head. He turns around and sees Mike pointing a gun at his forehead.

Trembling, Keith looks up at Mike, "Mike…I'm sorry…"

Slowly, Mike presses the trigger as Keith hears "Fuck you!"

Keith sits up in his bed, gasping for air. He breathes hard, not sure if he is still dreaming. He looks around his dark room and tries to calm down. Within moments he feels more awake, he looks at the clock on his nightstand…5:45am.

_'Three and a half hours this time.'_ he thinks to himself. He walks toward the door and turns on the light. Then, he walks to the video phone and makes a call.

"Keith? I take it you had another one?"

"Yes, doctor, you told me to call you tonight if it happened again."

"Yes, son, don't worry, I've been logging them in. So far this makes it three this week. How long did you sleep?"

"Three and a half hours, I think."

"Fever?"

"Yes, I feel hot."

"Alright," Gorma says, "I'm still researching this spell with a couple of colleagues but we haven't found anything yet that may reverse the spell. For now, I'll keep giving you light sedatives that will allow you to sleep but prevent you from reaching REM sleep and Anayan pills to lower the fever."

Keith nods in agreement, not necessarily feeling any better. As a matter of fact, the nightmares keep feeling even more real to him. His heart still pounds in fear that Mike may show up at any moment.

"Don't worry Commander, I'll find a way to stop this."

"Thanks Doc."

"I'll have Selena prepare the Anayan pills for you. You can pick them up in about ten minutes or so."

"I'll be there soon. Thanks doctor."

Gorma nods and the communication is cut.

Keith goes to take a shower. The fever makes him feel hot so he takes a cold one. He closes his eyes and feels the cold drops hit his hot body. His head is throbbing. He thinks of Mike again and shakes in panic.

_'It was so real…'_

Without noticing, tears spill down his face and for the first time since Mike's passing, he weeps. Keith weeps for his friend.

**********

As Keith walks toward MedTech, he runs into Hunk.

"Hey Chief, you're up a bit early. I thought Coran ordered you to rest."

"Resting is overrated Hunk."

"Keith, pulling night shift duty for four nights in a row is overrated."

"Granted, I guess I'm still getting used to the time change between Doom and Arus."

"Right," Hunk says not believing him. "You barely sleep."

"I sleep enough," Keith says with a small smile. "Besides, lion practice is at 8. I would have gotten up either way."

"Are you sure, you're ok Chief?"

"Sure Hunk, how about some coffee?"

"Sure, I just finished patrolling early shift, so I could use some before breakfast."

Unable to come up with an excuse to go to MedTech, Keith decides to have coffee first and go later, even though coffee was the furthest thing from his mind.

Once they get their coffee, both men sit at the table. Keith is abnormally quiet, lost in thought. Hunk picks up on this and tries to bring him back.

"So, how are you holding up? Must be a bit different now that you're not commanding over three hundred people, huh?"

"Just a bit Hunk." Keith smiles. "I'm still getting used to not having my hands in every pot."

"Well, I'm glad you're back with us Chief. Voltron needs all of us and I think we need each other."

"Me too Hunk, I'm glad we're back, despite the circumstances."

Just then Keith's com goes off.

"Kogane here."

"Hey buddy, shouldn't you be in your room asleep or something?" Lance's voice is heard.

"Don't start Lt. Is there a problem?"

"Nope, just someone who wants to talk to you. Come over to the control room."

"I'll be right there."

**********

Lance keeps smiling and staring at the woman on the screen.

"Commander Nichols; how nice to see you again."

"Nice to see you too Lt. How's the arm?" Meghan says with a slight smirk on her face.

_'Typical guy. A womanizer.'_

"Never been better, soon I'll be back to my old self."

_'Great!_' She thinks to herself imagining rolling her eyes, as her cool composure smiles back at him.

"Lt. I didn't mean to contact you this early. I tried to call the Commander at his room, but he didn't answer. I'd figure he'd be here."

"He would have been. But Coran relieved him after he found out he had pulled night shift for three days in a row this week alone."

"Three day this week? How about last week?" She asks concerned.

"Four I think. He keeps saying he's still getting used to getting out of the surveillance schedule when he was at Doom."

"Yeah, he pulled a lot of night surveillance." She lies.

Lance stays silent, _'She's lying, but why?'_

"Meghan, what's going on?" Lance hears a voice from behind him. It's Keith talking to Meghan as he walks in to the control room.

"Good morning Keith. I tried calling you at your room, but I received no answer. Thought I'd try the control room next."

"Yeah," he simply says.

She studies him. He looks worn out. Her eyes plead with him, wanting to know what's going on. He looks back at her as if telling her not to say a word.

She continues, "I'm calling because the King would like you to attend Mike's memorial service on Ephas."

"Memorial service? I thought the funeral was months ago?"

"Yes, but according to Ephasian law, a memorial service follows in order to guide the departed spirit and wish him a final goodbye. Jasmin postponed it because she wanted us to be present there Keith. We need to be there."

"I know. I'll be there. When?" He sighs deeply.

"In two days. Jasmin told me that the whole force is welcomed to attend as well."

"We'd be honored." Lance cuts in immediately. Any military brother from the Garrison deemed to be honored, he thought.

"We would leave Arus unprotected. I don't know about that." Keith states in deep thought.

"If you'll allow it," Meghan says, "I can assign the Ulysses to protect Arus while you're away."

"Yeah, Keith," Lance states, "We can even call Sven and the Pollux army to stand by in case of an attack. Besides, it'll be for one or two days at most. I doubt Lotor will attack this soon anyway."

"Meghan, the Princess has the last word. But don't worry. I'll be there."

"Alright, confirm with me later today."

"Will do Commander." Keith tells her smiling.

She gave him a sympathetic smile before she closes communication.

Lance turns to Keith nodding his head. "Man, are you telling me the truth? You mean to tell me that you never had anything with that gorgeous woman?"

"Yes, I am." He tells him matter-of-factly.

"Good God Keith, you make me sick." Lance says rolling his eyes.

Changing the subject Keith asks Lance, "Lion practice is at eight and I want to do some practice drills this afternoon as well."

"Nice to have you back." Lance says sarcastically. "We should get going to breakfast then. Just give me a minute; I need to contact the Garrison."

"Why?"

"Darrell, Hunk and I need to pick up our things. We've been here two weeks and even though the Princess gave us a nice allowance to buy some clothes, I still want my stuff back." Lance says punching in buttons. "I need to notify them of my date of leave. I'm sure there's someone dying to get my apartment."

"I'm sure," Keith says in agreement. He knew some officers would kill for their own apartment at the base.

"I think it would be a great opportunity. We can go to the memorial service and then to Earth to pick up our things. Besides, you have to report to Admiral Graham. I'm sure the old man wants an explanation for your recent behavior." Lance finishes smiling at Keith sarcastically.

Keith ignores the smirk on Lance's face. It would be a good opportunity. Lotor wouldn't attack this soon and the lions would get them quickly from Ephas to Earth in hours. And, unfortunately, he had to face the Admiral, who, even though didn't show it, Keith knew the man was livid with his recent decision to hide information from Garrison.

"I know I have to speak to the Admiral, but as far as the memorial, the Princess has the final word."

**********

After telling Lance he was going to his room to pick up some files he had to work on, Keith makes his way to MedTech and takes the pills that Dr. Gorma has prescribed to him. Selena has them ready so he takes them as soon as he arrives.

He then goes to the dining room and meets the rest of the group.

Allura can't help but smile as she watches the team as they talk to each other. Lance is cracking jokes and even Keith, laughing at times at Lance's humor, her family was once again whole.

"So Princess, we don't have the honor of his Highness, Prince Royal Pain in the Butt this morning?" Lance says.

"Lance, quit it!" Keith says raising his eyes at Lance.

Everyone else laughs, including Allura, who giggles in a way that drives Keith crazy. He can't help but to laugh, but at her, and at the same time is concerned about this marriage that from what Lance has told him, she's being forced into.

Allura just shakes her head and smiles, "Nope. Darien left last night to discuss some negotiations that Planet Novus and Ceres are dealing with. He won't be back for a week." She happily says as she takes a bite out of her toast.

Keith notices the tone of happiness in her words and can't help but to smile at her.

"Great," Lance says, "Then we are free to talk. Keith, tell her."

"Tell me what?" Allura asks curiously.

Keith turns his attention to Allura. "I've been asked by King Iran to attend Lt. Richard's Memorial service. It's a tradition in Ephas that following the funeral a memorial service is performed to wish the deceased a safe and happy passage into the afterlife. His family hasn't done it yet because they wanted Meghan and I there."

"Well, of course you should go, Keith. I'd never stop you."

"Princess, the King and Mike's family would like all of us to attend. I figure they want to reassure the people of Ephas that Voltron stands firm with them, since we are at war again.

Lance interjects "We figure we can all go to the memorial and then fly to Earth so the rest of us can pick up our things."

Allura thinks for a moment. "Keith, do you think Lotor will attack if he finds out we've left?"

"I doubt it Princess. We'll be gone two days at most, but Meghan has offered us the Ulysses to patrol and protect Arus while we're there and we can call Sven to keep an eye out on things and serve as back up until we can get back."

"Then, I guess we can go." She says thinking that it would be a good idea to go to Ephas and show the people that Voltron is there for them. It would also be nice to pay her respects to a fallen comrade. But the idea of Meghan and Keith together just reminds her of what could have been between them. Just thinking about it makes her sad.

"Thank you Princess." Keith says nodding her.

"How could I refuse," she says smiling, hiding her sadness.

*************

Victoria Gardens is named after King Iran's late wife Queen Victoria. The Garden is located a couple of miles east of Iran's castle. Before her death, the queen was working on making that area a prosperous park where Ephasians could take their children to play, relax in nature, or appreciate the beauty of a landscape which was rare since Ephas is primarily an industrial planet.

She couldn't complete her project since her death was so sudden, but both the King and Keith made sure that the park project would continue, even if she didn't live to see it. Keith went all over the galaxy and brought back different kinds of plant life to make the park something special. He took over the project from the Ulysses and when he was stationed in Ephas, made sure that the schedule stayed on course. In a way, he felt what the King felt when he lost his companion…he lost a part of him that made him complete.

As he and the team walk into the park, Allura is amazed by what she sees. All five make their way under a canopy of firs and cedars. The garden is a wonderland of azaleas, camellias, roses, magnolias, tulips, and orchids of every kind and color.

They walk across a bridge made out of thick bamboo. Underneath the bridge lays a naturalistic pond that is surrounded by bright yellow marigolds. Maple leaves float all around the surface of the lake.

Large glossy green leaves lie underneath magnolias intertwined, on the bamboo. As they cross the bridge, they are welcomed by a passageway full of calla lilies that takes them to an open area surrounded by large oaks that filter the sun's light, making the temperature pleasant and cool. A small creek surrounds the area, making a peaceful, relaxing sound as they walk in. All around they see even more specimens of flowers, some Allura doesn't even recognize, but their beauty is breathtaking. It is as if she is standing in the middle of a painting, a canvas of multi colors that reflect peace and beauty.

Allura sees about two hundred people are present. A large video prompter stands on one end. The crew of the Ulysses cannot be present, but they are able to watch the ceremony from the ship stationed above Arus' airspace. There are two sections of white chairs that are in the center of the vast garden. Each section has 100 chairs; fifty rows of ten. An isle separates the first section from the second.

As Keith enters the memorial site, his heart starts pounding and he feels out of breath. He tries to act as normal as possible, but the closer he gets, the more uncomfortable he becomes. He feels that the nightmare will begin once again and the Mike from his dream will appear at any moment.

_'This is ridiculous!_' he thinks to himself. _'I can't let this control me.'_

He tries to calm down his breathing, but Allura quickly notices something wrong with him.

"Keith, are you alright?" She says looking worried.

"I'm fine, Princess, really." He answers her trying to sound as natural as possible.

"You look…pale." Darrell says also paying attention to him.

"Guys, I'm fine…I'll be fine ok." He answers smiling a bit.

Allura is about to confront him when she sees a tall, beautiful, light brown woman walk towards them.

"Keith!" She says smiling and opening her arms towards the Commander. "I'm so glad you made it." She said teary eyed.

"How could I not be here, Jasmin. How are you?" he said empathetically, holding back the panic he feels.

"I'm holding on." She says, "I miss him. You know, deep down, I always thought we'd be back in each other's arms one day."

"I'm so sorry," Keith answers hugging her. "Jasmin, I never thought this would happen. I'm so sorry."

"I know…Keith….I know." She says touching his cheek sympathetically and reassuring him. "Please don't blame yourself. Mike wouldn't."

He nods, not quite convinced by her words.

She turns to the rest of the group. "Thank you all for being here."

"Thank you for allowing us to be here." Allura says warmly.

"Jasmin," Keith says, "This is Princess Allura of Arus and these are my team members, Lt. Lance McClain, Sub-Lieutenants Hunk Garrett and Darrell Stoker.

"It is an honor to have you here Princess" Jasmin says to the Princess. "Thank you so much for being here Voltron Force. Mike was so impressed by all of you."

"Jasmin, please call me Allura. I'm not one for formalities among friends."

"Thank you…Allura." Jasmin says, "I believe we'll get started in a couple of minutes. Please take your seats; I've reserved the first row on the right hand side for all of you."

As they make their way along the isle, there are many looks bestowed upon the team. Some are looks of awe, others of question.

The team dressed in their Galaxy Garrison uniforms. Keith's medals hang from both sides of his chest. Their dark blue uniforms with white lining make all four look extremely attractive. The women around the room are mesmerized by them.

Allura, on the other hand, decided on a black pant suit, which tailored to her curves and small waist. Inside her jacket, she wore a white silk, ruffled blouse; a string of pearls grace her neck. On her jacket is a pin of the royal crest of Arus. Her hair is a silky blonde mane that delicately falls down to her waist. Nanny had fought to keep it up, but she felt like wearing it down today, not with her usual waves, but straight down.

For a moment, Keith notices that with her hair that way, she looks delicate, even more feminine, and beautiful. He finds it hard to keep his eyes away from her. But as he sees pictures of Mike all around the area, his panic begins again. He tries to calm down and can't wait to take a seat.

They sit where Jasmin has directed them. Allura notices that Meghan is seated in the opposite end of their row. Meghan waves a quick hello to them before the ceremony begins. Allura waves hello back as does Keith, who tries to look natural. For being a light breezy day, Keith feels like he's about to die in his suit. The area feels claustrophobic and he feels like he's being watched. Allura notices his distress and lightly touches his hand. He jumps, startled, and pulls his hand back. She looks at him, really concerned.

"I'm sorry Princess, you just startled me." He whispers to her.

"Are you ok?" She whispers back.

"Yeah, yeah." He says taking her hand back. He feels comfort from the warmth of her hand. It makes him feel like he hasn't left the real world.

Lance notices the two holding hands and a little feeling of jealousy crawls in him. He quickly dismisses the act of affection as he believes Allura is comforting Keith for the loss of his friend.

During the ceremony King Iran makes a speech and beautifully speaks about Mike, his family, what a wonderful man he was and then bids him a farewell. Jasmin, Sarah, and Mike's parents also spoke about him and wished him a peaceful and happy afterlife. At the end, 200 doves are released into the air to signify the well wishes of the attendees.

After the ceremony, people gather and speak to Jasmin. Mike's parents were also there and speak to Keith, the Princess and the rest of the group. They were happy that the team was there for the occasion and the team never felt so welcomed among strangers.

Keith walks up to a video prompter that shows pictures and home movies of Mike. He stares into the face of Mike, in the video he is laughing and before he knows it, Keith is lost in thought, thinking of ways he could have prevented his death from happening. Suddenly flashes of the nightmare comeback to him. He smells the irony stench of blood, sees the mangled bodies around him. He's being sucked back in again when he feels a hand tap his shoulder and pulls him back to reality.

"Stop blaming yourself." He hears Meghan say.

He turns around, he's back at the memorial.

"What's wrong?" Meghan asks, looking at his pale face and the beads of sweat rolling down his forehead.

"Nothing," he says, taking a handkerchief from his pocket and drying himself. "Just thinking that maybe I could have prevented this somehow. Do you think he blames me?" He says not looking at her, but still a bit lost in thought.

"There's no way in hell you could have prevented this. Don't be ridiculous." She answers him firmly. "You know he doesn't blame you. No one does."

"I dreamed he did." He says rubbing his eyes to relieve his frustrations.

"Those dreams are not real, Keith. You have to stop thinking they are real. What has Dr. Gorma told you?"

"Nothing yet." He says, snapping out of his current state of being. "Today isn't about me, it's about Mike."

----------

Darrell walks around the garden looking at the strange, but beautiful flowers around him when he is approached by a pretty young lady with light brown skin and bright hazel eyes.

"Hi," she says shyly, but smiling at the same time.

"Oh, hi." Darrell says. He looks at her. She's a couple of inches shorter than him. Her hair is a dark brown with waves that cascade down to her lower back. She has a cute slim figure and is wearing white short sleeved blouse with a black skirt that falls to her knees. Darrell can't stop smiling. She is a very cute gal.

"My name is Sarah Richards."

"Hi, I'm Darrell Stoker." He says extending his hand. "I'm sorry about your father."

"Thank you." She says to him with a sad tone. "But, I'm happy that I got to spend some time with him before this happened. He…he was a great dad."

Darrell nods, "Yes, Keith told me about him. He was a very nice guy."

"Thanks. So Darrell, I know that you don't have a lot of time, but I'd like it if you could tell me about the lions. My father never stopped talking about them, and well, I know a lot about Black and Blue, but not much about Green."

"Well, I'll tell you everything about Green if you give me a tour of this lovely garden."

"Deal!"

------

"Princess, thank you for coming." Iran says as he walks up to Allura, Lance and Hunk. "Gentlemen, I appreciate you being here as well."

"Thank you for inviting us Iran." Allura says. "This is a beautiful park. I'm amazed by all the beauty it has."

"It was a labor of love." Iran begins. "We named it after my late wife Victoria, whose dream was that everyone on our planet could enjoy the beauty of nature."

"Wow, you did a magnificent job. I've never seen such a vast amount of flowers." Hunk tells him.

"Well, I shouldn't take the credit for it. Keith was the mastermind behind all this." The king says whole-heartedly.

"Keith?" Lance questions.

"Yes, Keith didn't know Victoria too well. She died within three months of his transfer here. I guess when he attended her funeral, he saw how devastated I was and when he found out about her garden project, he immediately asked me if he could help." He sighs, "He made sure everything was in order, spoke to the architects, and even family members to get a better perspective of what Victoria envisioned."

"That's incredible." Allura says. _That's Keith!_

"You should have seen me when he showed be the completed project a couple of months after Victoria's passing. It was like walking in here rejuvenated me. Victoria lived once again." He said smiling proudly. "Whenever I walk in here, I feel I have my Victoria back. I will always be grateful to Keith for that."

Allura searches for Keith, who appeared to be in deep conversation with Meghan and wonders what other surprises and wonderful talents her secret love has that he hasn't shared.

------

The team pays their last respects to Jasmin and Sarah. During their conversation, Darrell gets Sarah's contact information, promising to call her and talk to her 'more about the lions.' Hunk and Lance just laugh as they see Darrell is quite smitten with her.

Allura and Keith say their goodbyes to Iran and Meghan.

"We'll be back on Arus by tomorrow evening at the latest."

"Don't worry Commander. The Ulysses will stay on Arus until you arrive."

"Thanks Meghan."

Meghan turns to Allura. "Allura, thank you for coming. I know it would have meant a lot to Mike."

"No thanks needed Meghan. It was an honor." Allura says smiling. She tries to dislike Meghan, but she knows that deep down she's a good woman and really does like her despite the relationship she has with Keith.

Iran turns to Keith. "Please give my regards to the Admiral when you see him today."

"Will do Iran." Keith says remembering what is in store for him later in the day when he meets with the Admiral. "I can't wait to see him either." he says as he hides the sarcasm in his tone.

**********

Nathan Summers stands by his bed packing the last of his things in his duffel bag when his roommate walks in.

"Nate, please don't do this, you can't quit!" Josh says pushing Nathan's bag to the side.

"Josh, I don't belong here. At least, not anymore." he says putting the bag back in place.

"Nate, don't be an idiot, there are a lot of other things you can do than fly. The Garrison has so many other fields that are just as lucrative as flying."

"Josh, you don't understand, flying is the only thing I ever wanted to do. Nothing else interests me here."

"That's a lie and you know it. You're just being stubborn. Why don't you speak to Colonel Hawkins, I'm sure he can help. You're a smart guy, your test scores are higher than anyone else's in our class, even Lt. McClain said-"

"Don't you ever mention that man's name to me! EVER!" Nathan's fury exploding from his eyes.

Josh takes a step back. He doesn't know this Nate, his friend is not here anymore. This person in front of him looks to be pure evil.

"Fine," he says in defeat. "I just hope you know what you're doing." Josh turns and leaves the room.

Nathan finishes packing up his bag, turns and leaves the room, not looking at the familiar faces in the hallway that has been his home for almost three years. As soon as he leaves the building, he looks up at the sunny sky and then around the campus that he no longer belongs to.

"Good riddance!"

He walks to the shuttle station that will take him off of the campus and waits for it, sitting next to another young woman officer. She smiles at him. He smiles quickly but then turns as he doesn't want any type of conversation.

Suddenly, he sees another young woman approach the one he's sitting next to.

"Erica! Erica!"

"What's going on Kim?"

"You won't believe this! The Voltron Force just arrived, with the Lions!" She says excitedly.

"You're kidding!" Erica says surprised.

"Nope, and the Princess of Arus is here also!"

"Where are they, I want to see them."

"Come on, they're at Kingsly Hall!" Kim says running with Erica towards the meeting place.

Nathan sits there shocked. He is leaving for Arus tonight to start plotting his revenge on the Lt, but seeing that he's here…."

"I need to contact Lotor!" he whispers to himself and runs to look for a private place to talk.


	2. Vengeance

Hello, everyone. I feel like it's been a while. Allow me to give you part 2 of "Tattoo". As always, I want to make it the best as possible before it reaches your eyes. I do hope you like it. For this part, I was greatly inspired, by Alanis Morissette's song "Uninvited." So the lyrics belong to her. It's a great song!

Again, I couldn't have done this without my friends Mertz and CMS. Mertz has taken the role of my Editor. If I ever publish something outside fanfiction for money, I'm hiring Mertz as my editor. She's the best. CMS is like my agent! She's always, pushing me to make sure I finish and is always encouraging me. Although, her stories are really good and I may have a little competition :) (It's all good, though) Honestly, I'm grateful to have friends like them.

Alright, enough of the mushy stuff, here's part 2!

Vengeance

There are two things in life that Nate Summers will never do. First, he'll never settle for anything less than what he is capable of doing; and two, he'll never accept defeat.

And these are the two things that are going through his mind as he runs back to his dorm building to contact his ally.

His ally…never did he think he'd befriend the Galaxy's worst nightmare, Prince Lotor.

Life was so much simpler a couple of months ago when he was admitted to the new elite group of Galaxy Garrison's Air Team. He was being trained by one of the Galaxy's best-Lt. Lance McClain, the pilot of Voltron's Red Lion. He was finally accepted by his father and brother; both distinct pilots of the Garrison. He had the highest testing scores in his class. Nate Summers was happy.

However, changes can occur in the spur of the moment, a blink of an eye, or some other ridiculous cliché people relate to when things quickly go wrong. And for Nate Summers things went wrong so quickly that he didn't feel it.

First, McClain grounded him and didn't recommend him for the Air Team because of his carelessness in the air. The sudden stress caused a strain on his written exams and as a result his grades suffered. This led to depression; and this depression quickly alienated him from his friends to the point that he wouldn't even speak to them.

But the absolute worst, the final defeat, was seeing his father's face turn from one of pure happiness to one of downright disappointment when he told him that he had been grounded.

Nate Summers lost everything that was dear to him; his career, his friends, and his family. He had nothing left. So it was no surprise that one night, he hacked into Garrison's mainframes hoping to find something on McClain that would help him blackmail the Lt. and to hopefully change his final decision. But he found nothing. Tired and frustrated, he was about to give up when he ran across a confidential transmission and found that the leader of the Voltron Force was running surveillance on Doom in secret.

He then figured out the perfect plan. If he helped Lotor, then the Prince would help him in return. Destroying McClain would be the first step into making his life whole again. Without any further thought, he contacted Lotor that same night. He was not going to fail.

After walking into his dorm building, Nate begins to look for a place where he can find some privacy. Luckily, word about the Voltron Force arriving on the base made its way into the building so he finds it almost empty.

He locates a storage room further down from the main lobby. It is the perfect place, no interruptions; and no one will be able to hear him. He quickly walks in and closes the door.

From his pocket, he takes out a portable com link that connects to Planet Doom. He presses the code and immediately hears the voice of the Prince.

"Officer Summers, to what do I owe the pleasure of your call?" Lotor asks.

Summers takes a deep breath, _'It's now or never.'_

"The Voltron Force is here on Earth."

"On Earth! All of them?"

"Apparently so, I want to start my plan today instead of as scheduled."

"Negative, you will start it on Arus."

"No!" He says raising his voice slightly. "I don't know Arus at all, and it would be much easier to get McClain here than it would be trying to infiltrate that castle. We should take advantage of the situation now when they are here and their defenses are down."

Lotor thinks for a moment. Arus was the best place to set the plan in motion, but the kid is right. He'll never be able to infiltrate the castle. He may be book smart, but that's as far as his expertise extends.

"Alright, you'll have it your way. I'll send Haggar soon."

"Fine, just hurry. I'm not sure if they'll stay long."

*********

The crowd gathers by the masses. The lions land on an air strip situated next to Kinsly Hall, a visitor building where parents are able to get information on the base, set up tours, or find information on certain programs and departments. The location of the building is superb as parents find it extremely exciting to see the starships take off or land as they wait for information. Even the Alliance has a way of hooking parents and students alike.

The force is surprised to be greeted by so many cadets and officers upon their arrival. Keith finds it a little disturbing that they have so many "fans". After all, they are just pilots; far from being the Hollywood superstars that Earth offers.

"It's nice to know that we have a fan club here on Earth." Lance tells Keith as they walk out of the building and see the mass amount of students running up to them and cheering.

Keith just rolls his eyes and walks next to Allura, hoping that these kids are more excited about seeing a real life Princess than just a couple of graduates from the Academy.

"Princess, the kids really look up to you; just don't feel too overwhelmed by their excitement."

"It's alright Keith. I'll be ok." She says with a half laugh. "But I kind of think they are more excited about seeing you boys than me."

As they head out, the questions, hellos and cheers begin. Keith calculates there are about 50 students waiting by the door and sees others from afar making their way to the building.

"Alright, alright, we'll answer a few questions and then all of you need to get back to class." Keith states. He turns over to Lance, who clearly feels more comfortable with the whole situation. Darrell and Hunk just laugh as they are amused by Lance's excitement.

"Lance, this is your show now." Keith tells him.

Lance smiles wickedly. "Alright guys. Shoot. What are your questions?"

Keith and Allura just smile as they watch Lance answer questions regarding the first fight with a robeast since Lotor restarted the war.

"We formed Voltron and the beast immediately charged at us. It threw these electrical snakes…"

"Wow, he should've been an actor." Darrell whispers as he stands next to Keith, folding his arms as they all listen to Lance babble.

"Yep, I won't argue that." Keith simply answers.

Minutes later, the team sees a hover car make its way into the parking area of the building. They see the grey haired, grey bearded man make his exit out of the vehicle. A young officer follows him close behind. As he makes his way closer, Allura watches the cadets and officers, who at first hover like puppies paying attention to Lance, stiffen. They form into two lines. She continues to watch as Keith's body stiffens as well; his body, once relaxed, takes a military stand. Lance takes a step back and aligns himself next to Darrell following Keith. She looks to her other side where Hunk mirrors his teammates.

As Admiral Graham makes his way closer, the cadets immediately salute. Allura looks around and watches her team do the same. Standing there and suddenly feeling uneasy; she copies her friends by taking a similar stand and salutes the Admiral herself.

Keith whispers to her, "Princess, you don't need to do that."

"Ohh..." she says returning to a relaxed position, a bit embarrassed.

Admiral Graham stands in front of the team, "At ease soldiers." Keith and the team relax.

He turns around to face the cadets. "At ease soldiers."

The cadets relax. "Now, get back to class. That's an order."

The disappointment on their faces is quite evident. Graham wants to smile, but keeps his face neutral. He turns around to meet Keith's eyes.

"Commander, how nice to see you alive and well."

Lance can't keep his mouth from forming a smile, _'That old bastard can be a real sarcastic son of a bitch!'_

"Thank you Admiral." Keith answers, showing no sign of emotion.

Allura watches Keith's expression. When they left the memorial service he seemed pale and distant, now his color has come back, but he still looks a bit tired and worn out. She decides she will speak with him about it at a better time.

"Princess Allura, how nice to see you again."

"Very nice seeing you too, Admiral." She says as he bows to her.

"I guess congratulations are in order. I have heard about your engagement with the Prince of Novus."

She hesitates before she answers, "Yes, Darien…thank you."

Keith lowers his gaze.

"You're forming a very strong alliance my dear. Congratulations."

She nods and smiles but says nothing.

Turning himself again to the Commander, the Admiral states, "Commander, I'd like a word with you. How about we go to my office?"

"Yes sir. Permission to speak with my team before we leave?"

"Of course."

Keith turns to Lance, Darrell and Hunk as the Admiral walks away with Allura to speak to her.

"Alright, I'll probably be with the Admiral for at least an hour." Keith says. "Why don't you three start packing? I'll contact you as soon as I'm done and we'll meet for dinner."

"Does this mean we're staying tonight?" Hunk asks eagerly.

"I think it is for the best. We've been flying for a long time today; we better rest and continue on tomorrow morning to Arus. If we leave early, we'll probably arrive by the afternoon." Keith answers.

"Hey, maybe we can have dinner at Bayside." Darrell says excitedly.

"Alright, we'll see." Keith answers. "For now, start packing your stuff. I'll see that we get rooms at the bases' guest suites for tonight."

"Good luck." Lance says as he watches the Admiral and Allura standing there waiting for Keith.

"Thanks."

Keith walks up to the Admiral and Allura.

"Princess Allura will be accompanying us Commander, if that's alright with you." The Admiral says as they head to the hover car.

"That's alright with me sir."

***********

Nate waits in the storage room, pacing from one end to another when an amorphous shape materializes in front of him. As it solidifies, he sees a brown cloaked robe; inside it a presence with bright yellow eyes looking straight at him. The witch lets out a scathing little sound that unnerves him, but he tries to hide it.

"Well Officer Summers, I'm here at your disposal."

"Do you have what we talked about?" he asks her.

"How could I not bring it with me? You'll have to take me to Lt. McClain so I can cast the spell."

"We'll need to find out where he'll be. But we'll need to act fast, I'm not sure he'll be alone for long."

"No worries, I'm an expert at working fast." The witch says as she turns to exit the room.

"Haggar, you can't go out looking like that."

"What? Am I not pretty enough?" She asks wickedly laughing softly. "Don't worry, how about this?"

Quickly she transforms herself into a beautiful raven haired young woman, wearing a Galaxy Garrison uniform just like the ones the academy makes all officers and cadets wear.

"Am I acceptable now?"

"From what I've heard, you're perfect for the Lt." Nate says smiling.

------

Lance enters his apartment. Looking at it, he almost feels sorry to have to leave it. It was the first place he didn't have to share and for two years he had a place he called his. But he was glad he was on his way back to his real home, Arus, with his friends.

"Well, let's get started." He tells himself as he walks in.

----

Allura and Keith follow the admiral into the Admiral's office. Allura looks at Keith trying to detect if there is some kind of feeling of nervousness within him, but she sees none. As expected, Keith's stoic and emotionless expression is present.

"Princess, please have a seat." The Admiral tells her signaling to the sofa that is located in a corner of the room across from his desk. Allura takes her seat wondering why she's there. She had thought this conversation between the Admiral and Keith would be confidential.

"Commander…"The Admiral gestures to Keith to take a seat. Keith takes a seat on the other end of the sofa Allura sits on. The Admiral takes a chair from his desk and sits in front of them.

"Commander, I don't think I have to tell you how the Alliance feels about your recent actions. You went missing for four months, never told Garrison of your plans and even had King Iran utterly deceive us as to your whereabouts. I have to ask, why you would do such a thing?"

Keith maintains his silence for a moment, forming the correct response in his mind.

"Sir, my intentions were never to defy or deceive Garrison in any way. I've always known that every now and again there has been a leak of some sort and that is how the enemy gets a hold of our information. When I found out Lotor had returned I made the decision that in order to keep Arus, and to a point, Garrison safe I had to act alone."

"You took a big chance Commander. You could be court marshaled for it."

Allura's eyes widen. She maintains her silence, but if she needs to step in, she will do it without any hesitation.

Keith's emotionless expression retains its presence, "I know sir, and I'm prepared to take any consequences for my actions."

-----

Lance finishes packing the last of his things. He walks up to his nightstand and checks to see if he left anything behind. Upon opening it, he sees the black box the Admiral had given him when they thought Keith was MIA.

"Keith's personals," he says to himself. "I have to give this back to him."

He picks it up, walks over to his bag and places it inside.

He hears the door bell. "Coming!"

Opening the door, Lance greets Darrell and Hunk, "You two finished?"

"Yep, we're done, packed and ready. I can't wait to catch dinner. I'm starving!" Hunk says as he and Darrell walk in with their bags in their hands.

"Maybe we can go to Bayside. I'm sure the Princess will love it there." Darrell says.

"You really want to go there, huh Shorty!" Hunk playfully punches Darrell.

"Well, we have to wait until Keith is finished getting the third degree from Graham." Lance says laughing. The others laugh as well.

"Poor guy, the Admiral must be killing him right now." Hunk says, trying to stop himself from laughing.

Just then the bell rings again. _I wonder who that could be?_ "Guys, can you get my stuff from the bedroom, let's just go and put our crap in the lions. That should give us something to do while we wait for Keith and the Princess." Lance says as he walks toward the door. Hunk and Pidge make their way to the bedroom.

As soon as he opens it, he sees a beautiful raven haired woman smiling at him. Lance is immediately attracted to her. _I've never seen her on the base, but boy is she hot!_

"Well, hello there." he says smiling to her. "How can I be of service to you Miss?"

"You can do a lot for me, Lt. First, please make yourself available for my command." the woman says as she looks straight into Lance's eyes. Her irises begin to turn into a dark red hue, instantly hypnotizing Lance. He stands at the door looking at her blankly.

The woman enters the room, Nate follows close behind.

"Come here Lt." continues the young woman. Lance turns and follows her to the living area as Nate closes the door.

'Look at me," she commands. Lance turns and looks at her. She grabs his left arm as she closes her eyes as she recites an incantation, _"Acktara nison!"_

Lance's arm and eyes glow with a yellow hue. The woman then takes out a circular coin from her pocket and places it on Lance's arm. The coin dissolves immediately into the skin of the arm and then the glow from his arm and eyes disappears.

"What did you do?" Nate asks as she looks at Lance who still seems to be in a trance.

"Enough damage to kill his career and life." she says half laughing.

Just then Darrell and Hunk come out, "Who are you people?" Hunk asks as he sees the figures standing by the living area. "Lance, you alright?"

The raven hair woman raises her hand and a ball of fire forms in her hand. She throws it at Hunk and then another at Darrell, hitting them in the chest and hypnotizing them immediately.

"Hey, that's not part of the plan, they have nothing to do with this," Nate yells at the witch.

"Boy, don't order me around. I follow Lotor not you!" She says to him with hateful eyes. "I already did what you asked. It is time for me to have my own fun." She walks towards Hunk and Darrell taking two coins from her pocket.

-------

The Admiral smiles, "I said you _could_ be Commander, but you're not. As it turns out, you were right. Two weeks ago we found out that someone hacked into our systems and got their hands on the transmission we found from the King's satellites. We believe the stolen information was used to notify Lotor of your plans.

"That would explain how Lotor knew I was there."

"How do you know that?" Allura asks in disbelief.

"He contacted me during our last battle," he answers facing her. "I didn't say anything because I didn't want any of you to be distracted during battle."

"What did he tell you?" the Admiral asks.

"Just that he knew I was there and let me go. He purposely gave me the wrong information so when I arrived on Arus he could have the upper hand."

"Luckily you were able to stop him." the Admiral replies.

"Luckily." Keith says. _Barely_, he thinks as he remembers that they failed to destroy the robeast.

"I take it during your time there you found some useful information Commander?" the Admiral questions him.

"Yes, I know that Lotor hid for two years inside Galia. He was able to form an army there by befriending some of the planets' rulers."

"I never thought Galia had worlds." the Admiral says amazed.

"That's not the half of it Admiral. The people he befriended are very powerful. I believe that their purpose for working with Lotor is to conquer the Denubian Galaxy."

The Admiral sighs in disbelief. "Do you think they can do it?"

"With the technology that Lotor brought back, I believe they have a fair chance. For starters, their ships are much more advanced than most of the Alliances. He's not using any robot soldiers anymore; he's working with what he calls "Generals" or representatives from the planets that want to conquer our galaxy. These generals are just as ruthless and heartless as Lotor. They're here to conquer and they won't go down easily.

The Admiral takes a deep breath listening to the disturbing report. "What of Zarkon?"

"For some reason, Zarkon has been extremely quiet. Even in the meetings I overhead, he never offered much. I'm not sure if Lotor is strong enough to have over taken him or if Zarkon is up to something himself."

"Is Haggar still working with them?"

"Yes, but her magic works differently. It's much stronger than I remember it." Keith says almost shuddering.

"You have reports?"

"Yes sir, I'm working on them. As soon as they are completed I will send them to you."

"Good. Thank you Commander." The Admiral nods. "I do hope you realize that this better be the first and last time you pull out a stunt like this."

Keith nods.

"Alright," the Admiral nods. "Now, on to what I really called you for."

Keith looks confused. He was expecting a lot worse from the Admiral.

"Sir?"

-------

Lance finds himself lying on his bed. He rises confused, but feeling extremely exuberant. Like the weight of the world has been lifted from his shoulders. A sudden feeling of freedom hits Lance like a thunderbolt.

He walks out of his room to find Darrell and Hunk sitting on his couch, both asleep as well. He walks over to them and uses his foot to kick theirs in order to wake them up.

"Hey, sleeping beauties wake the hell up!"

The two men find themselves dazed and confused as well, but after their sleepiness wears off they smile at Lance.

"What the hell happened?" Darrell asks, "Weren't we going to put our stuff in the lions?"

"Guess we must have fallen asleep." Hunk says laughing. "But it's the best sleep I've ever had. I've never felt better."

"Yeah, me too." Lance says. "Keith and the Princess haven't called right?"

"Don't think so," Darrell says standing up.

"You know, I'm kind of tired waiting for them." Lance says, "How about we have some fun tonight. After all, who knows when we'll be back to Earth. We should make it count." Lance says maliciously.

"Where should we go?" Hunk asks.

"I don't know, but somewhere where we won't have to worry about our boring Commander or the baby Princess." Lance says laughing wickedly.

Both Darrell and Hunk can't control themselves and begin to laugh as well.

------

The Admiral stands and walks over to his desk. He opens a drawer and retrieves a small blue box and walks back to Keith.

"Commander Kogane, please stand."

Keith looks at Allura, who is also confused about what is happening.

"The Alliance, Galaxy Garrison, and King Iran thought long and hard about this, but we all reached the conclusion that while your methods were a bit unorthodox, you did manage to save Arus from destruction and retrieve vital information that will help us once again achieve victory over the Drule Empire." The Admiral opens the small box and takes out an Alliance metal.

"For this…I would like to present you with the ranking of…Captain."

"Oh my God," Allura says in a mere whisper as happiness fills her.

"Sir…I don't know…what to say." Keith says shocked.

"Say you'll behave yourself from now on, Captain."

Keith smiles, with almost half a laugh says, "I'll do my best sir."

"Good," the Admiral nods. "And I'll contact you as soon as we find the person or persons that hacked into the system. I have Intelligence working on it. I'm sure we'll find them soon."

"I appreciate it, sir." Keith says, "I was wondering sir, if we could spend the night at the base? We've traveled…"

"No explanations are necessary Captain. I'll have my secretary put in orders to reserve 5 guest suites."

"Thank you sir."

"Don't mention it Captain, just do your best not to scare the hell out of me again."

­­

---------

Nate and the witch make their way back to Nate's building and to his dorm room. He finds it empty. _'Josh is still not back from class. Good.'_

Once in, he turns to Haggar. "Our plan wasn't to destroy the rest of the Voltron Force; that was not part of the deal."

Haggar looks at him in disbelief and amusement. "What the hell did you think kid; that we would play by your rules?" Haggar says as she laughs evilly.

"You really don't know us do you?" she adds, shaking her head. "You're a fool to think that I wouldn't take the opportunity to bring down the Commander's team. If he had been there, I would have finished him off as well!"

"Get the hell out of here witch!" Nate says furiously. "Our agreement is over!"

"Fool! Our plans aren't finished yet! You see, you forgot one thing Officer Summers." the witch says as she turns back to her original form.

"Fairness is not our strong suit. You got what you wanted; we've only gotten part of what we wanted."

"What do you mean only part?" Nate asks confused.

"The only other part we need is…you" she says as she raises her staff and locks Nate inside an energy bubble.

Nate tries to break free but the more he fights it the more he tires.

"Officer Summers, you'll make a fine specimen for my next project!" the witch says laughing as they both disappear."

------

Keith and Allura walk out of the Admiral's office. Keith still can't believe what has happened. Allura can't stop smiling as she couldn't be prouder of Keith's accomplishments. There were so many surprises she has found out about him in one day.

"I still can't believe that happened." He says amazed.

"Keith, you deserve this. I'm so proud of you." She says hugging him. "We'll, have to celebrate and tell the boys."

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure they are done packing by now." He walks over to the receptionist's phone and asks her to transfer him to Lance's room.

The receptionist's area does not carry a video phone as the device isn't really private and because the Admiral's office deals with highly confidential information, the receptionist uses an old fashion telecommunication device to handle calls coming in or out.

Once connected, Keith hears his friend's voice, "McClain,"

"Hey, Lance, it's Keith. The Princess and I are finished here. We thought we could catch dinner off of the base. I've reserved five guest suites for tonight."

"We really don't feel like leaving the base tonight. We thought we could hang out at Shadow's." Lance says in an emotionless voice.

"Shadows? Lance, we can't take the Princess to a bar." Keith says in a low whisper as Allura studies a case full of medals and trophies. "Come on, Darrell wanted to go to Bayside, it's not that far from the base and the Princess would enjoy that much more than seeing a bunch of drunken officers."

"Then don't come along." Lance answers in a careless tone raising his voice at Keith. "The great thing about tonight is that I don't have to listen to you _Commander_. _I'm off duty!"_

"Lance, are you alright?" Keith asks wondering where the sudden change in mood in his friend is coming from.

"I've never felt better. I just want to have some fun before we're off again fighting robeasts and protecting the little princess. Besides, I don't feel like being proper tonight so go hang with our _"oh so innocent one"_, We're not in the mood. Leave our keys at the front desk for the guest suites. We'll pick them up later."

Keith is about to lose his temper, but stops when Allura approaches, "Is everything alright?" she asks.

"Fine." Keith answers her and then responds to Lance in a serious tone as he directs his attention back to the phone. "I'll leave the keys at front desk. Make sure you report to your lions tomorrow at 0800."

Lance doesn't answer, he just hangs up. Keith stands there shocked, not really sure what has happened. Lance has had his crazy moods in the past, but he's never been rude, especially when it comes to the princess.

Keith puts down the receiver and smiles at Allura, not wanting her to know what has occurred. "Princess, I guess it's just you and me tonight." he says a little uneasy.

"Oh?" Allura says in a wondrous manner. She's a bit surprised, but there's also a tinge of surprise and joy in her tone.

"I think the guys found dates for tonight." He hates lying to her, but he has to find out what's going on first. "You know, they won't be back for a while and I guess tonight they just want to hang out with some friends."

"Okay…" she says a little disappointed, "Keith, if you want to do the same thing, please don't let me stop you. I'm sure you haven't seen any of your Earth friends in a while. I can stay in my room tonight and…"

"I wouldn't want to spend the evening with anyone other than you Princess. It will be an honor and a pleasure if you would do me the honor of dining with me tonight."

She smiles at him, seeing that his expression and feelings are genuine.

"Thank you Captain. The honor and pleasure is mine." She nods.

"Come on, let's change. I'll see if I can check out a hovercraft for tonight."

***********

Shadow's Lair is, as always, packed with officer and cadets. Lance, Darrell and Hunk make their way in. A sudden cheer erupts in the room and the three smile at themselves, relishing the feeling of acceptance and power the people give them.

A waitress walks up giving them each a bottle of beer.

"On the house!" she says smiling.

"Thanks babe!" Lance says winking.

"A man can get used to this," Hunk says taking his beer and finishing it in one gulp.

"Well, guys, I don't know about you, but I'm here to look for some fun." Lance says turning to them. "Do whatever the hell you feel like tonight. I'm going to get laid."

Lance walks to a table full of young female officers, all three staring at him.

"Good evening ladies…Lucy," he says looking at a red head in the group.

"Hello Lt., long time no see…" Lucy waves, her dark olive eyes hungry for him. She stands up and goes to him. "How about a little fun tonight?" she whispers into his ear after she kisses him on his cheek.

"Can't think of a better idea." Lance says wrapping an arm around her waist.

"But first, be a gentleman and give a girl a decent meal and a dance or two."

Lance rolls his eyes, "Sure, why not."

Hunk and Darrell walk up to the table.

"Ladies, care to have some fun as well?" Hunk asks the giggling girls.

"Of course!" they answer still giggling.

The three men join the women and begin their activities for the evening.

**********

Bayside is a market place full of shops, restaurants and live entertainment, located by the bay. Allura could see from afar the ocean as the ships and yachts make their way up to the bay. While some people come in hovercrafts other make their way into Bayside by boat.

As Allura and Keith walk in, Allura can hear the music from the different restaurants and dance clubs around. She also notices the nicest shops where her eyes feast upon some of the most interesting clothes she has ever seen. _'Nanny would kill me if she ever saw me in that outfit._' she giggles to herself.

"Princess, where would you like to dine tonight? There are actually a couple of choices here. There's a Greek place to our left, Indian towards our right and a Japanese place around the corner." Keith says pointing.

Keith is feeling relaxed. Once he had gone back to the room to change, he had momentarily worried about taking the Princess out to dinner alone. Coran and Nanny would certainly have a field day with that one, not to mention the Prince. Coran had called earlier to check in with them and Keith told him that everything was alright. He just left out the detail of them going out to dine alone. It was funny, he thinks, on Arus this would be a scandal, on Earth, no one gave a damn. It's always amazing to him how different each world he's visited is.

"Keith, you tell me, I've never tried any of them."

"How about we try Japanese? I think that Indian might be a little too spicy for your taste and Greek way too exotic."

They enter the Japanese place and Keith orders for her since she doesn't know what to try.

As they dine Keith can't help but to laugh at her excitement while tasting Sushi, Tempura, and the other dishes Keith had ordered. _'She is so beautiful in every way.'_

"Captain," Allura says as she picks up her wine glass. "Here's a toast to you. Congratulations for your accomplishments and thank you for teaching me how to eat sushi!" She says laughing.

"Princess, I think one glass of wine will be enough for tonight." Keith says smiling at her. "If Coran could see us, he'd kill me for allowing you to drink wine."

"Please! I'm 21 years old. I think I'm allowed at this point. But don't tell Coran or Nanny!"

Keith nods in amusement.

"Captain Kogane," she continues, "has a nice ring to it, doesn't it?"

"I'm still getting used to it."

"Kogane…isn't that name Japanese?" Allura asks. "You really don't look Japanese."

"My great-great-great-grandfather was Japanese. He married an American woman and moved to the states. After that, I guess my family married American and by the time I was born, well, I guess the Japanese traits unfortunately were gone."

"It's a very nice name."

"Thank you."

After dinner they walk around the area. Allura looks at the shops and stores. Soon though, her attention focuses on another aspect of Bayside. She's very amused to look at the dance clubs around them. Keith tries to kill the interest, but finds it very hard when she insists on just going in to watch.

They pass a club called "Blue", where all lights and motif are blue in color and Allura's interest peaks.

"Come on Keith…just for a little while? Who knows when I'll be back and you know that Coran and Nanny never let me do anything fun."

He hesitates, but finally gives in. "Only for a little bit, ok?"

"Ok!" she says delighted.

They stay for a while, watching people dance to the rhythm of rock and what Keith says is called Techno music. Allura looks around like a kid in a candy store. Never has she seen something like this in her life. The dances are so different than the usual waltzes she's accustomed to watching.

After a while Keith looks at his watch. "Princess, come on we have to go." he says

"Come on Keith...just a little while longer?"

"Sorry Princess, we need to leave early and you need to get your rest." Keith says. Even though he's anxious about going to sleep himself, he hopes the soothing agent Dr. Gorma gave him helps him not to dream tonight.

"Alright," she says disappointed as they both stand up from their table.

In order to leave the club, they must cross the dance floor. But as the fast paced music ends, another song begins. This one captures Allura's attention. The song begins with the strokes of piano keys, a familiar sound to her. It has a dark but attractive melody, mysterious, slow and appealing. Then, the singer's first words reach Allura's ears and she's captivated by the singer's rich voice:

_"Like anyone would be, I am flattered by your fascination with me_…"

Allura hears the words and feels a calling, finally a way to let Keith know what she feels. Keith tries to guide her off of the dance floor and out of the club, but she stops him.

"Princess?" he asks, perplexed.

_"Like any hot blooded woman, I have simply wanted an object to crave…"_

She takes a step closer, looking up into his eyes, "Keith, teach me how to dance this…"

Keith, despite every intention of not getting involved in this situation, suddenly finds himself stepping closer to Allura.

"_But you, you're not allowed, you're uninvited, an unfortunate slight..."_

He opens his arms to her. Allura steps into them, stopping a little less than an arms length away and placing her left hand on his shoulder. He takes her right hand into his own much larger one, closes it around hers while he places his other arm around her narrow waist.

"You need to be closer to me," he says to her, gazing straight into her eyes.

She immediately steps closer to him.

_"Must be strangely exciting to watch the stoic squirm…."_

The music washes over them, forming a place that is only theirs. The sound of the guitars and violins fills the room. The room and the people in it dissolve, until nothing exists but them. Keith pulls her a bit closer and she willingly moves in. He guides her, gently finding the rhythm in the music and continues to lead her, his arm tightening around her waist.

_"Like any uncharted territory, I must seem greatly intriguing..."_

Unable to deny herself any longer, she seals the small gap between them, his dark ebony eyes looking down into her blues. He lowers his head, resting his forehead on hers. They gaze into each other's eyes, enjoying the feeling of their bodies touching.

_"You speak of my love, like you have experienced love like mine before."_

Keith slows the pace of their steps, still in time with the music. The feeling of her in his arms is enticing, dangerous, and exquisite. It's the perfect music, the perfect time. No one is there to interrupt them, no one is there to watch them, and no one is there to stop them….

_"But this is not allowed, you're uninvited, an unfortunate slight."_

'_Let me feel your lips,'_ her thoughts manifesting by slowly lifting her face and positioning her lips near his. Keith closes his eyes, not wanting to think, not wanting to analyze, just wanting to feel her…

_"I don't think you unworthy; I need a moment to deliberate…"_

He lowers his head, letting the music control him as his lips come close to hers. Both fight to gain some control of themselves but find it impossible as their lips lightly touch, finding their way together. He tightens his arm around her waist. She presses against his lips more, never wanting the moment to end. Just as she's about to open her mouth to invite him to deepen the kiss, the music stops and their world dissolves back into reality once again as the loud techno music resumes.

They stare at each other as the music continues and other dancers begin to occupy the dance floor.

"We better get out of here." Keith tells her, taking her hand and guiding her out.

Once outside the club, Keith turns around to look at her.

"Princess…I am so sorry. I'm not sure what came over me." He says with an apologetic tone.

"I'm sorry too," she says nervously. "Keith, please understand that I would never do anything to hurt you or Meghan in anyway. I would have never done that…"

Keith can't seem to find any other words to say until he hears something that makes him stop and listen to Allura.

"Wait, what? Meghan…Princess, what are you talking about?" He asks. "What do you mean hurt Meghan?"

"Well," she says a bit embarrassed. "I'd never do anything to hurt your relationship."

"Define relationship?" He questions.

"I thought you two were…courting?"

Keith laughs, "Courting! Princess, where would you get an idea like that?"

"I don't know. The way she holds you and talks to you…I don't know, I just thought you two were together."

Keith sighs, "Meghan is just a friend. She's just been a good friend to me and Mike."

_'A friend?' _Allura thinks happily to herself. _'He's not in love with her.'_

"Oh, I'm sorry, I misinterpreted it." She says looking down on the floor.

"It's fine. I'm the one who should apologize. You're engaged. I…I should have never done that. I deeply apologize for this Princess."

"Keith…I…"

"We should get back to the base. We need to leave for Arus early tomorrow." he interrupts her as courteously as possible.

He doesn't want to hear about her needing to get married, at least not tonight. For one moment, he held her, the perfect moment. He doesn't want the memory to be ruined by the mention of Darien, or their preposterous engagement that has ruined their chance at happiness.

"It's ok Princess, I understand."

Allura understands what he means and nods.

***********

The ride back home is quiet, both lost in their own thoughts.

Once they arrive on the base, Keith walks Allura to her room.

"Captain, you're only a couple of doors down from me, you don't need to walk me." Allura smiles at him.

Keith quite can't meet her eyes, but still manages to smile at her. "Force of habit I guess."

"0800 hours right?" she says

He nods in agreement. "Yes, bright and early."

"Thank you for tonight Keith." she says looking at him and taking his hand.

He tenderly squeezes it, "Good night Princess." He bows to her. As he turns to walk to his door he hears the sound of hard footsteps coming toward him. He sees Lance with a woman, kissing her as they bump into the walls of the hallway, heading towards a room. Allura and Keith stand and stare, shocked at the display.

"Well, well, well..." Lance says laughing. "I never pegged you two for coming in this late. I thought you'd be in slumber land by now."

"Lance," Keith says seriously trying to control the anger that is starting to brew within him.

"Commander, meet Lucy. We're about to start our night. But don't worry, we'll try to be as quiet as possible so we won't disturb you." He says laughing. Lucy laughs as well, not reading Keith's expression of anger.

"Good night Lance." Keith says. He looks at Allura and waits for her to get in her room.

"Good night Lance," Allura manages to say, a bit embarrassed by the display. "Goodnight, Keith." She says as she walks in to her room.

"0800 tomorrow," Keith says as he turns around and goes to his room.

Lance stays in the hallway and laughs, "I think he's the one who needs to get laid tonight!"

Lucy laughs, "Oh Lance, you're impossible."

"Alright babe," he says taking his key from his pocket. "Let start having some fun."

***********

Keith and Allura stand by their lions the next morning waiting for the rest of the group.

"Fifteen minutes! We've been waiting for fifteen damn minutes!" Keith says as he pulls his hair back with frustration. "What the hell is going on with them?"

"Calm down Keith. I'm sure they have a good explanation." Allura says trying to calm him down.

The dark circles under his eyes are a clear indication to her that he didn't sleep at all and his current mood was another.

"I don't understand. Lance has been acting strange since yesterday afternoon."

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know he's different. Look, they're coming."

Keith and Allura watch the three walk towards them. All three look like they partied the entire night. Their eyes are bloodshot, their faces look haggard, and they each seem to have a very strange smile on their face. Allura is a bit taken a back by them. '_They're different'_, she thinks.

"Lt., 15 minutes late." Keith says looking straight at Lance, "Care to give an explanation?"

"Not really," Lance says with a smirk that Keith is about to wipe off with a fist.

"Lt. a word." Keith says as he turns to the rest of the team. "I'll speak to you two later. For now, get into your lions."

Hunk and Darrell don't move.

"That's an order gentlemen!" Keith raises his voice.

The other two just roll their eyes and head to their lions, ignoring the Princess completely.

"Princess, in your lion please," Keith tells her as he lowers his voice.

She nods and turns toward her lion.

Keith turns around to face Lance. "What the hell is going on with you three?"

"We're fine. Just a long night… A very long and fun night." he says laughing.

"Lance, don't toy around with me. We better get going. I want to get back to Arus as soon as possible. See that you return to your old self by the time we arrive on Arus Lt. I will not have you acting this way when we get back to the castle."

Annoyed, Lance walks passed Keith turning his back to him.

_'Old self? Commander, you haven't seen half of who I am.'_


	3. Rebellion

Welcome to Part 3! I hope you all have as much fun reading it as I have writing it. I have many more surprises so I do hope you stay tuned!

Again my thanks to my very special friends, Mertz and CMS for helping me put this story together and helping me put my ideas on paper. Without you guys, I wouldn't have half the fun I am having right now.

Part 4 soon! For now, enjoy Part 3….

Rebellion

Zarkon quickly makes his way into the castle control room, taking the opportunity that the witch and Lotor are occupied with their latest robeast at the witch's lab.

Knowing well that it will be at least 5 minutes before the next guard comes to patrol the area; he takes a risk contacting the new leader of the Drule resistance group.

Zarkon knew that it would only be a matter of time before Lotor would make enemies within the Drule Empire. Taking over the Denubian Galaxy was one thing, but bringing outsiders in to work with them and running the risk of having _them_ retaliate on the Drules was purely another.

Many Drule planets feared Lotor's new "friends", but were afraid to say anything. Zarkon was as well feared and hated, for putting up with Lotor's antics. None of them knew that Zarkon himself had been kept prisoner in his own castle.

He knows it is time to do something. He will not have the throne usurped by his idiotic son and will have to work with the resistance to overthrow him. For months, he has secretly tried to gain access, to talk to them, but to no avail. Finally, they decided to briefly give him a chance to state his case and he has no choice but to risk sneaking into the control room.

Once inside he connects, no visuals are allowed, so that gives him the advantage of disconnecting quicker should he be interrupted. Finally, a voice comes through; the real voice is masked by an enhancer that makes it impossible to recognize who is speaking to him.

"Alright Zarkon, convince us why we should listen to you?"

"I know what you're trying to do and all I want to do is help you achieve it."

"Why should we trust you?" asks the voice viciously. "You are after all, Lotor's father. For all we know, you could be tricking us."

"What if I tell you that Lotor has taken my throne? I have nothing to do with what he's planning. He's using me as a toy, a front…I am no longer in control of my own kingdom."

"So you are using us to help you gain back your throne?" the voice asks sarcastically.

"No, I need your help to stop my son from destroying us all."

The voice keeps quiet for a moment as if in thought. "We've heard enough for now, we'll be in contact."

The voice breaks communication. Zarkon terminates the transmission and manages to erase it from the logs quickly before quietly exiting the control room.

**********

As the team arrives on Arus, Keith sees the Ulysses hovering above Arus' airspace, watching over the blue planet as its protective guardian. He smiles as he immediately sees the image of Meghan pop in from his view screen.

"Well, Captain, welcome back!" She says smiling.

"Don't tell me you knew?" shaking his head. "Iran told you?"

"Yep! But don't worry; he only spilled the beans to me this morning." She says laughing at him.

"Now, you're using Earth lingo as well. You're coming along Commander. Before you know it, you'll be just like me." Keith says joking with her.

"Heaven help me!" she sarcastically answers him.

It's the only real conversation he's had in hours. Since they left Earth, the ride has been extremely quiet. Hunk and Darrell have spoken amongst themselves, every once in a while turning their private lines on. Lance hasn't said a word the entire time. Keith and Allura have had only a casual conversation every now and again. It is such a change from other missions where they've talked, laughed, and played around. Keith can't shake off the feeling that something is wrong with his team, something extremely wrong.

Out of nowhere Lance cuts in on the transmission.

"Well, if it isn't the beautiful Commander Nichols. How's it going beautiful?"

Keith's anger resurfaces, "Lt. since when do you speak to a higher ranking officer in such manner?"

"She's not part of the Garrison Keith, so technically I can speak to her in whatever _manner_ I want."

Knowing Meghan, Keith knew she wasn't going stand for any insubordination from anyone, including Lance, "Lt. I may not be part of the Garrison, but I am part of the Alliance and you will address me in a respectful manner."

They both hear Lance snort in frustration, "Fine _Commander Nichols_. How is it going _Commander Nichols_? Thank you for protecting Arus, _Commander Nichols_."

Meghan reconnects to Keith's private line, "What the hell is wrong with him?"

"I don't know Meghan, something happened on Earth. I'm still trying to find out what's wrong with him and the rest of them."

"All of them are acting this way?"

"Lance, Hunk and Darrell. The Princess is fine and she's just as bothered by this as I am."

Meghan sighs, "Is there anything I can do?"

"No, thank you. You've done enough. You should get back to your current mission. You've already lost two days."

"Alright, let me at least address your crew and the Princess before we depart."

"Sure, it's all yours."

Meghan then takes a minute and connects to all the links of the lions.

"Princess, Voltron Force, welcome back to Arus."

"Thank you, Meghan." Allura says smiling. "And thank you for protecting Arus while we were away."

Meghan picks up on Allura's more pleasant tone. Somehow, it's different, friendlier. Not that the Princess hasn't been friendly before, but she has always been a bit reserved. Now she seems more open and friendlier. Meghan was curious to know what had changed.

"No thanks needed Princess. We're glad to do it."

"Please call me Allura."

Meghan is a bit shocked, but really pleased and happy to be given such an honor, "Thank you Allura."

"We really don't want to keep you any longer Commander, thank you for your help." Keith says smiling at his friend.

"No problem Captain, again, a pleasure. I'll contact you soon."

"Captain?" Lance asks skeptical. "Who's the Captain?"

Meghan looks a bit surprised, "I was referring to Captain Kogane."

"Keith, you're a Captain now?" Hunk asks with a mild tone of disgust.

"Unfucking believable!" Lance bursts out. "When the hell did this happen?"

Keith ignores Lance's comment and focuses back on Meghan who's big green eyes look like they are about to pop out of the screen. "Commander, I won't keep you or your crew any longer on Arus." He says. She could tell he was extremely angry, but wouldn't show it.

"I understand, Captain. I'll contact you later?"

Keith nods.

"I bid you all a good day and again, welcome back." She says as she cuts communication.

------

After landing the lions in their respective homes, the crew enters the control room. Hunk and Darrell walk out first, quiet, but the anger in their eyes keeps Coran wondering and he feels extremely uneasy.

"Are you alright, gentlemen?" he asks wondering what has happened.

"What makes you think something is wrong Coran?" Darrell asks almost sarcastically. He doesn't give Coran a chance to answer, "I'm going to my room to put my things away."

"So am I." Hunk says following Darrell. Both ignore Coran, who stands surprised, never having witnessed such behavior from either of the young men. Usually respectful, it seems like two total strangers have walked in to the control room.

Keith walks in next, "Coran, it's good to see you."

"It's a pleasure to see you too Captain," the old man says smiling. Keith looks at him wondering how he heard, "The Princess contacted me earlier today to tell me. Congratulations." Coran says offering a friendly handshake.

Allura walks in after, followed by Lance who obviously has no trouble wreaking the small peaceful scene, "So when were you going to tell us Keith? When they promoted you to General or something?" Lance says defensively passing the Princess and ignoring Coran.

"Lance," Allura cuts in, "We were going to tell you all yesterday, but the three of you said you had plans and this morning you all seemed so upset."

"Upset? When were we upset?" he mockingly asks.

"Lance, I was going to tell you. But since you've been acting so unusual since last night, the chance hasn't presented itself."

"Please," Lance says dismissing the excuse, "You know what I can't believe, that you decide to defy the Alliance, break every damn rule in the book, _you_ lie to your friends, to your so called King and the Garrison, and you still manage to get promoted. Incredible!"

He picks up his bags and storms to the door, but before leaving he turns back to face them, "You know _Captain_, I might just start breaking the damn rules myself, maybe then I'll get some well deserved commendations!"

They just stand there staring stunned at Lance. Lance, who is usually so easy going and laid back, has completely changed in less than 24 hours. _'What the hell is going on?'_ Keith thinks to himself.

"What was that all about?" Coran asks amazed.

Allura just shakes her head in response.

"I don't know Coran," Keith responds to him. "I don't know."

------

That evening, Keith walks in to the dining room and is surprised to only find Allura and Coran sitting at dinner. There are only three place settings. Nanny is busy taking away the other three.

"Where's everyone else?" Keith asks.

"Gone," Allura replies clearly irritated, "Hunk, Lance, and Darrell decided that they would rather go to town and have dinner there. In their words, _'they would rather spend the night having fun than staying in with people like us.'_"

Keith is beyond livid at this point, "That's it! I've had it with the three of them." He says starting to walk out.

"Where are you going?" Allura asks standing up.

"I'm going to look for them." Keith says heatedly. "I've had it with their behavior."

"Captain," Coran says lowering his voice so the rest would calm down, "Let them go tonight. We are actually free to discuss what is going on and perhaps come up with a plan to help them."

"You think there is something wrong with them as well?" Allura inquires.

"This isn't their normal behavior." Coran states, "Yes, there might be some outside influences involved."

"But that's impossible," Allura utters, "We were on Earth, nothing happened there."

"Never say never, Princess," Keith declares as he sits down at the table. Running his hand through his hair in frustration, he repeats, "Never say never."

**********

Keith is hesitant about commencing Lion practice this morning, but chooses to do so despite his reservations. It will be the only way to know how affected his team really is. Today is not about lion practice as much as it is to study them and to study the extent of their corruption.

All five lions take off with dangerous speed into the sky. "I want a diamond formation, Lance take the lead."

"What? You're letting me lead?" Lance answers in an arrogant tone. Keith watches Lance's eyes; they are red, like if he was up all night.

"It's your turn in the rotation, Lt." Keith replies flatly.

Without question, Lance takes the lead position. Seconds later Hunk takes second on Lance's right, Allura takes the left and Darrell hangs behind. Keith falls behind purposely, watching as the group forms a position shaped like a kite. After Keith calls the formation complete, one by one they fall back.

Keith continues calling out formations with each taking turns leading, making sure that they are in sync and in perfect form.

_'Well, at least their flight skills haven't been affected.'_ He reflects as he watches from afar.

Observing that none of the three have acted up, Keith decides to begin target practice for the second portion of their flight exercises. "Coran, we're heading toward Mialan to begin target practice. Get the shields up."

Coran contacts him on a private line.

"Are you sure you want to do that Captain?" Coran says worried, "What if they decide to attack you or the Princess?"

"I don't think they'll do that Coran, besides I want to observe their behavior while they are using their weaponry."

"What do you mean?"

"I want to see if their aggression increases with the use of weapons."

"You think they are capable of violence?"

"If this is Haggar's doing, yes. I want to see how badly they are affected."

"Be careful," Coran utters, sounding more worried with the picture Keith has just presented. His mind keeps thinking of someone in particular.

"Don't worry, Coran. I'll take care of her."

"Thank you, Captain."

All five fly to Mialan, a desert like area where no inhabitants live. Although on occasions, there are people who cross to the next city through its mountains. This of course is against the rules as Coran has repeatedly pointed out to the people, but every now and again there are those who prefer to take the short route as opposed to the safe one.

Mialan is the perfect area for practice as it is nothing but a desolate spot full of sand. Coran designated the lonely region for target practice since it is far enough from the inhabited cities should any target exercise incidents occur.

Once they arrive, they see the target shields already up. These bulls eye like shields hover in the air. Darrell created a program where they will move around in the air to prevent the lions from hitting them. Under normal circumstances the team would use this program as a sort of game to see who could hit the most shields. It is no surprise that Keith beats all of them by a long shot, but every once in a while he'll play referee to see who would come in a close second. Today, however, he chooses just to observe.

Practice has been so quiet, that even a mouse could be heard shrieking. They've only spoken when they need to and have done things as mechanically as possible.

Keith gives out the orders for Darrell to go first. With ease, the green lion targets and shoots the first six shields in record time. Keith watches him through visuals, but is puzzled by the distorted way Darrell looks. He seems to enjoy destroying the shields. Keith also studies Hunk and Lance, who have similar looks upon their faces.

_'They purposely like destroying things,'_ he thinks as he watches. Allura is also baffled as she looks at them swerving and actually enjoying destroying things for the fun of it. They are becoming more aggressive and heartless. She finds it very disturbing.

"Alright, Captain, this is getting boring. You should challenge us more." Lance says. As he looks towards the mountain, he sees a couple of townspeople crossing.

_'Must be passing through to get to Ralia,'_ Lance thinks. A smile suddenly emerges on his lips as a fun thought crosses his mind. _'What would it feel like?'_ he asks himself. Without any further thoughts, Lance looks toward the peak of the mountain and shoots a proton missile at it.

-----

Keith immediately notices what Lance's next target is. _'Shit, he's going after the people below!' _he thinks as he pushes Black Lion to full throttle and heads for the mountains.

The people below on their horses yell as they see massive rocks falling from above, about to pound them. Suddenly, a shadow covers them, looking up they see Blue Lion covering them as the rocks hit the lion's back.

"You know that you're not supposed to cross through here." She cries out, irritated mostly at Lance whom she saw purposely do this. Unfortunately, the townspeople think that her irritation stems from them breaking the rules.

"We're sorry Princess," she hears one of the men say. "It won't happen again,"

"Make sure it doesn't, you're lucky I was able to see you." She waits until they complete their crossing. She's happy they didn't notice that it was done on purpose.

"Quick thinking princess," Keith says looking at her from visuals. She nods visibly annoyed and mad as hell as she locks her sites onto Lance.

"What the hell were you thinking!" she yells. "You could have killed them!"

"Hey, consider it a test, a challenge if you will," Lance answers cynically at her.

"Lance," Keith says in his command voice. "Return to base."

"Are we done?" Lance barks out.

"You are!" Keith barks back at him. "That was incredibly stupid of you."

"Forgive me for adding a bit of excitement." Lance laughs. "Don't you think this was a bit more entertaining boys?"

"You're nuts McClain!" Hunks and Darrell laugh.

Keith has seen enough, _'Haggar did quite a number.'_ "I think we're done for today. Let's head back to the castle, straight tail formation.

Keith takes the lead as all the lions make a straight line nose to tail formation. He maintains his silence thinking of what his next move will be. All of a sudden, Keith feels Black shake slightly as Red Lion passes him swiftly and without any regard, flies over him as low as possible, almost hitting Black, "What the hell!" he yells as he hears Lance laughing maliciously.

***********

Allura enters Keith's office, with the expression of pure concern evident by the seriousness of her face and the stern look in her eyes.

"They are becoming dangerous," she says not even bothering with a greeting.

"I know Princess. I spoke to Dr. Gorma after practice this morning. He's going to run tests on them." Keith answers as he stands up and walks her to a sofa in his office. He sits down next to her.

"Well, good luck trying to get them to agree Keith." She says rubbing her eyes with her hands. "How on Arus are you going to get them to MedTech?"

"I'm going to speak with them before dinner and I've already spoken to Isaiah, to guard all exits of the castle in case they try to escape." He tells her looking at her.

"I'm going with you."

Shaking his head in a firm no, Keith argues with her, "Don't start with me Princess, you're not going. The last thing I need is for them to hurt you."

She stands up, irritated with his reasoning, "What makes you think you can take on all three if they decide to attack you! Lance practically hit Black this morning on top of almost killing some civilians. I will not let you go alone!"

He sighs in frustration, he knows when she gets this stubborn, nothing or no one will change her mind. "Princess…please don't make this any harder."

He sighs again as he looks at her terse face, "Alright, but you have to promise me you won't get in the way, you won't speak and please no matter what you see, don't call security unless it is absolutely necessary. They are still my team and I won't have them seen in this state."

Not really agreeing with him, but seeing that it is her only chance to accompany him, she curtly nods, "Fine, we'll do it your way."

----

Allura enters the Security department of the castle after the meeting with Keith. There she meets with the head of castle security, Isaiah Toma. He's a tall lanky blonde haired man in his late 30's with grey eyes. Keith had hired him before he left as head of security after Isaiah was forced onto early retirement from the Garrison when he had an accident that left him unable to perform active duty. He found his new job refreshing and more over, he still felt quite useful.

"Isaiah, do you have the device I asked for?" She asks as she walks to the security control room. Seeing that the situation was getting worse, after lion practice, she spoke to Isaiah to provide her with an emergency calling device should an emergency happen. At this point she now needed this second backup in case she and Keith ran into trouble with them.

"Yes, Princess, but are you sure the Captain knows about this? I mean, from what he's told me he really doesn't want you or anyone of us around when he speaks to the rest of the team." Isaiah says as he hands Allura a small circular platinum device, in its center a purple square button. "I don't want the Captain to feel that I've broken his trust."

"I know, Isaiah, and he won't. I will take full responsibility for this. I'm just worried. I know he won't be able to handle all three of them. They are not behaving like themselves at all. I'm starting to think that they may be under some spell and I'm not about to let them hurt Keith."

"Alright Princess, I'll have the guards on standby should something happen." Isaiah says nodding. "If you find you need us, press the button. It will alert us automatically and we'll be there quickly." He finishes as he shows her the button to press.

"I want your men close by Isaiah and make sure all exits are guarded." She says as she puts the portable device in her pocket. "Thanks. Well, let's hope all goes well." She says with a small smile as she turns around and walks out.

-------

Keith and Allura walk into the gym finding Hunk, Lance, and Darrell working out. They have been avoiding them through out the day and with the way lion practice had gone, Keith is anxious to speak to all three of them.

Once again he asks her to step away, "Princess, I'd prefer it, if you weren't here. I know there's something wrong with them, I just need to find out what it is and I'd rather do it alone."

"No, Keith. They're getting worse, their attitude and demeanor is becoming violent. I don't want you alone with them."

Keith breaths heavily, he really doesn't want her here for that same reason. "Alright, but don't try anything, just stay back and let me handle it."

Allura nods as she checks her pocket to make sure her device is properly placed for faster access.

Keith approaches the group. Lance is on the treadmill breathing heavily as he runs at a speed that bothers Keith. It seems abnormal, as if he enjoys the pain that he feels.

Hunk is lifting more weights than even he's accustomed to and Darrell is working with numb chucks and looks like he's about to beat up someone, rather than use them for self defense.

Studying each one of them, Keith suddenly sees a circular tattoo on their left arms. Inside the circle, is what seems to be a dragon, its wings open as if about to fly, it's face grotesque, fangs salivating and with a look that inflicts terror.

Keith walks over to Lance, "We need to talk Lt."

Lance keeps working out, ignoring his commanding officer in pure defiance.

Keith stops the machine automatically, setting Lance off.

"What the hell do you want Captain? Can't you see I'm working out?"

"All of you stop what you are doing. I mean it."

All three look at each other, smiling and rolling their eyes. "Better make it quick Captain, we have things to do."

"Yes, you do Hunk. You have to listen to your commanding officer, which means your duty at the moment is to pay attention to me."

Hunk throws the weights with force. Allura's eyes widened and her heart starts pounding. She looks at Keith whose face does not show a tinge of being intimidated.

"What do you want Captain?" Darrell asks walking with his numb chucks over to Keith and Lance.

"I'm curious…where did you all get those interesting tattoos?" Keith mildly inquires.

Hunk replies laughing, "We don't really remember, we just woke up with them a couple of days ago."

"So what is it you want?" Darrell asks. Keith, shocked by Darrell's attitude, stares at the young man with curiosity and sadness; trying to see if there is a hint of the old "Pidge" left. But he sees nothing, just a stoned cold face resembling his friend. Darrell gives him a frozen stare as he lightly plays with the numb chucks.

"I'm requesting that all of you report to MedTech at once."

"What for?" Lance yells.

"I need Gorma to run physicals on you all."

"Even you?" Lance asks skeptically.

"Even me Lt." Keith lies.

"How come I have a feeling you are lying." Lance says as he gets down from the treadmill and walks up to Keith. "You think there is something wrong with us, don't you?" He continues putting his face into Keith's.

Keith steps back not wanting any confrontation, but Lance already sees in his eyes that his temper is about to burst out.

"Really _Captain_, who do you take me for?" Lance inquires by shoving him with both hands. "Do you think I'm really that stupid?"

"Stand down Lt!" Keith raises his voice, but doesn't touch Lance.

"Make me!" Lance says shoving him again.

Allura begins to place her hand on her pocket, when she sees Keith shove Lance back.

"I don't want to fight you Lance!" Keith says looking at him.

"Funny thing Keith, I do!" Lance replies as he forms a fist and charges it at Keith.

Keith ducks and quickly tackles Lance to the floor. Lance lifts his left leg and kicks Keith in the stomach.

"Hunk, Darrell, do something!" Allura screams at the other two who stand by, enjoying the scene.

"I'm not getting into this Princess," Hunk replies. "It isn't my place."

"The hell it isn't!" She answers, "I'm calling the palace guards!"

"No Princess!" Keith says in between, while trying to pin Lance. "Don't do that!"

Lance decides to take the opportunity to head butt him. Keith lets go of him as he covers his face with both hands to control the pain.

Lance quickly stands up, "Come on. Tell me you want more!"

"Lance!" Allura yells at him.

"Shut the fuck up!" He shouts at her, his eyes enraged with anger. "This is between me and the Captain, here."

As Keith stands up, he instantly tastes the iron in his mouth. He touches his bottom lip to find blood coming out. He wipes it off with his hands.

"So you want to play the hard way, McClain? So be it." Keith says as he charges up at him and lands a hook punch with his left hand, hitting Lance in the jaw.

Lance steps back feeling the pain and is about to take his turn, when Keith lands an uppercut punch, making Lance's head snap backward. Lance, stumbles, and tries to maintain his balance, but Keith will not let him loose; he punches him in the stomach and then once more lands another hook punch before Lance plummets to the floor.

Keith looks at both Hunk and Darrell, who stand there, anger resonating in their eyes, but they manage to stand back.

"Do both of you want to fight me?" Keith asks sarcastically.

They remain still. "I mean it, report to MedTech now!"

Both walk up to Lance who is slowly standing up. Keith turns around to face the Princess. "Princess, I think you've seen enough. I'll go to MedTech with them."

"Fine, but I think that…KEITH LOOK OUT!" she yells.

Quickly he shoves Allura to the side to protect her but Keith doesn't turn around fast enough and immediately feels something slam his head. The last thing he sees is Allura screaming his name before blackness sets in and he finally falls to the floor.

Allura runs to him. "Keith! Keith! Answer me! What the hell did you do Lance!" she screams, crying kneeling at Keith's side.

Lance looks down at Keith and sees a little blood coming out of his ear. For a second, his eyes and face show remorse, but it is instantly wiped out and rage takes over. "He shouldn't have provoked me," he says as he throws the numb chucks on the floor.

"_You_ shouldn't have provoked this!" Allura seethes back. She puts her hand in her pocket and presses the device Isaiah gave her. Within seconds Palace Guards arrive to the gym carrying laser guns and other defense weapons. She sees Isaiah walk in last.

"Isaiah, escort the Lt. and his men to the Palace Detention Center, they will remain there until I see fit."

"Yes Princess," Isaiah says as he orders his men to point their weapons at Hunk, Lance and Darrell. Isaiah looks down and sees Keith on the floor, he's about to say something when,

"Go!" Allura orders them out. With her comm. in her other pocket, she quickly calls for MedTech and Gorma. Crying now, she looks down on Keith and sees a small amount of blood oozing out his ear.

"Please be alright, please," she pleads while caressing his face.

**********

Walking towards the detention center, the guards walk behind Lance, Hunk and Darrell while they walk ahead with their arms up on their heads.

"Continue moving gentlemen," Isaiah says tersely.

"Isaiah, you know who we are, there's no reason to treat us this way," Hunk snaps back.

"I know what I saw Hunk!" Isaiah answers angrily. "You just caused harm to your commanding officer. You could all be court marshaled for this. I hate to see what the Admiral might do to the three of you."

"I liked to see him try!" Darrell answers Isaiah, mocking his reasoning.

Lance is quiet during all this. Looking ahead he sees on the wall the fire alarm. As they pass through, he quickly presses the button and the water starts falling from the ceiling as the alarms go off. This is enough to distract the guards. Lance turns around and punches one of the guards who immediately falls to the floor. Hunk and Darrell take the opportunity and start fighting the other guards.

Isaiah quickly presses his comm. to alert the other guards, but realizes that the fire alarms did the job for him, for immediately more guards come in. "Stop them!" he screams. Hunk and Darrell fight off a couple of guards, but when the second group shows up, they give up, but not without a good fight.

Lance however, weasels his way out from the hallway and makes his way to the control room. Knowing fully well that Keith probably closed other exits, he knows that there is only one way to get out.

He sees Coran in the room and pushes the man to the floor, "Get the hell out of my way," he barks as he hits the button to raise the dais.

"Lt. What…what are you doing?" Coran asks.

"Getting the hell out of here!" he yells as he runs to the tube that leads to Red lion.

**********

Allura sits by Keith's bed waiting for him to awaken. Her comm. alerts her of an incoming call from Coran.

"Any word yet?" she inquires softly.

"No, Princess, the guards have been scouting the area without any success. The Lt. is nowhere to be found and it doesn't help that he took the Red Lion." Coran pauses, "Has the Captain awaken?"

"No Coran, not yet. Dr. Gorma said he has a severe concussion. But I'm worried. It's been almost a day and he hasn't regained consciousness."

"Let me know when he does."

"I will."

"Princess, Prince Darien has already asked for you several times, you should really speak to him."

"I'll do that soon Coran; I just need to see that Keith awakens first."

There's a heavy sigh from Coran, but he won't argue with her, "Alright, Princess."

Allura won't argue either, "Thanks Coran." She says before cutting the communication.

Moments later, she hears Keith stir. "Keith…Keith..." she stands and leans towards him.

She notices his face, his eyes tightly shut, his head moving from left to right.

"Get away," he whispers, "No…Don't…Lance" as he begins thrashing about.

Allura becomes frightened and presses the button to call Dr. Gorma who comes in seconds later.

"Excuse me Princess," he states as he goes to Keith's bed. "Captain, wake up!" but Keith won't stir. Suddenly, the doctor takes a syringe from his pocket and injects Keith in his chest. Keith lets out a gasp and then awakens.

He tries to talk, but Gorma cuts him off quickly, opening his eyes wide to make Keith understand, "Captain, you had nightmare, probably caused by the hit to the head you received."

Keith sees Allura standing behind Gorma and nods. "Captain, you suffered a severe concussion, I need you to stay in bed until I can run some scans to see if you are alright."

Still a bit groggy, Keith manages to say, "Alright doctor, but, can you give me a moment with the Princess?"

"Sure, but I'll be back in a couple of minutes."

Keith waits until Gorma leaves the room and looks at Allura's face which is full of concern and fear.

"How are you feeling?" she asks walking up to him.

"Like I've been hit hard in the head," he says smiling as he begins to get out of bed.

"Wait, Keith. You shouldn't get up!" she says catching him as he slightly loses his balance. He quickly recovers, stands and tries to gain his balance.

"How long have I've been out?" he asks her.

"Almost a day." she answers, "It was pretty bad."

"Shit!" he says frustrated. "Where are they?"

"Hunk and Darrell are being seen by Dr. Gorma. He's sedated them and has been running tests on both of them pretty much all day.

Keith walks to the closet, takes his clothes and slowly walks to the bathroom to change.

"Keith, please stay in bed. You shouldn't be up." Allura hollers as she sits down on the bed.

"You know I can't do that Princess," he says from inside the bathroom. "What about Lance?"

Allura doesn't answer. Moments later, Keith slowly walks out of the bathroom fully dressed. "Princess, what about Lance?"

"Yesterday, after he knocked you out, I ordered the palace guards to take all three of them to the detention center." Allura says walking to him. "Somewhere in between, the three tried to break loose, the guards managed to stop Hunk and Darrell, but Lance got away. He took Red and we haven't been able to find him."

She expected Keith to be shocked, but he remained quiet and pensive, as if he knew his friend would do that.

"I need to find him." He says as Gorma walks in.

"What are you doing up?" the doctor says, clearly frustrated. "You just came out of a very serious injury. I still have to run some tests!"

"Sorry doctor, first things first; I need to find Lance, but I need to know what's wrong with him, have you found anything?"

Gorma sighs heavily, there's no way he's going to get Keith back in bed. "I ran a couple of tests on Lts. Garrett and Stoker. So far, their adrenaline and stress levels are extremely high. I think that's where their aggressive attitudes are stemming from."

"Keith, are you alright?" Allura asks concerned. Seeing that he's trying to fight off a dizzy spell, she takes his hand and guides him back to sit on the bed. She sits next to him never releasing his hand from hers. Gorma looks suspiciously but doesn't say a word.

"I'm alright Princess," he says shaking his head. He catches Gorma's expression, but he is in no mood for explanations. He doesn't make any effort to remove Allura's hand from his. "Doctor, I noticed all three have these tattoos on their left arms. They've never had tattoos, other than the ones we all have from our stay at Doom a couple of years back. The tattoos seem strange."

"Yes, I checked the arms." Gorma goes back to the problem at hand. "I too was curious by the type of tattoos they carried and I found something quite interesting."

"What, doctor?" Allura asks with interest.

"The tattoos are not made out of ink. Their arms are completely clean of ink."

"What? What do you mean?" Keith inquires. "What are they made out of?"

"Nothing apparently. It's like they are there visually, but they are not there." Gorma simply said. "I was quite intrigued, so I took sample skin graphs and found that the skin in that area has no ink. This simply told me one thing."

"What?" Keith says snapping at the doctor. Gorma sometimes has a way of dragging out an explanation that irritates Keith to his core, in those rare occasions he would reach the limit of his patience. This is one of those times.

Gorma looks at him, a little hurt. Keith closes his eyes fighting back the nausea he is feeling, "Sorry doctor, I just have a hell of a headache."

"That's why you should have stayed in bed!" Gorma angrily yells him, but then sighs. "But I know this is more important right now. What I was going to say was that I believe that all three are under a spell. My colleagues told me about a healer who lives in the outskirts of Luna who might be able to help us, he should arrive by tomorrow."

"It's Haggar," Allura says immediately, "But how?"

"She must have attacked them somewhere on Earth. It's the only thing I can think of. That means they knew we were there." Keith says.

"Why didn't Lotor attack Arus then?" Allura says more perplexed than ever.

"I'm sure they're planning something Princess, that's why we need to lift this spell from them as soon as possible before he attacks." Keith says standing up and gently releases his hand from hers. "I need to find Lance."

"But how are we going to find him?"

Just then Coran calls Allura on her comm. "Yes, Coran."

"Princess, I have the Admiral, he'd like to speak to the Captain. I've told him of the situation so he'd like to speak to you instead."

"Coran, Keith's up. We'll go down to the control room now." She says before cutting communication and stands up.

Keith slowly walks to the door. "Doctor, I need you to find a way to lift this spell fast. I have a feeling Lotor will attack soon and I need all five of us ready."

"I'll work with the healer as fast as possible, but what are you going to do about Lt. McClain?" Gorma asks also walking to the door.

"Find him. I just need to know where."

***********

In the control room Coran turns as he notices the door open and Keith and Allura walk in. They see the Admiral from the viewing screen.

"Captain, are you ok?" The Admiral asks concerned as he sees Keith's still pale face.

"I'm fine Admiral. But I'm worried about Lance." Keith says. "He took Red and we haven't found him. I'm pretty sure he disconnected the homing device."

"I already have our satellites trying to track him. Don't worry, we'll find him. I called to tell you we've found the hacker who broke into our systems."

"Who was it?" Coran asks.

"His name is Nathan Summers. He's a student here at Garrison, he was part of the Garrison's Air Team, but was grounded a couple of weeks ago. He hacked into the system at around that time. Two days ago, he disappeared. No one has heard from him since."

Curious, Keith asks, "Why was he grounded?"

"Apparently he didn't meet the minimum requirements to pass the Air Team aptitude tests." The Admiral answers.

"Lance grounded him," Keith says already putting the pieces together. "He must have contacted Lotor." Keith says shaking in frustration. _'Stupid kid.'_ "He has to be working for them."

"That's what I think also." The Admiral agrees.

"Was he at the base when we were there?" Allura asks.

"As a matter of fact, that was the last time his roommate saw him." the Admiral states.

Keith sighs, "He was the one Haggar used to inflict the spell."

"What do we do now?" Coran inquires.

"Stick to the original plan." Keith says pushing the button to lift the dais, "We need to find Lance."


	4. Proof

Hi Guys, Here is Part 4. My many thanks to Mertz, CMS and Xia Cheyenne for their inputs and editing. Love ya, girls! :)

The witch's laboratory has an awful stench that is beyond sickening. Even Lotor finds it repulsive and he can stand almost everything. The dark walls are covered with dried blood from past living beings. Several rodents scrounge around looking for food; usually the body parts that are left over from her experiments. She maintains the lab as grotesque as possible, maybe to keep people out, Lotor thinks.

As he walks down the long corridor towards the robeast room, he hears her laughing in pure delight like a child who has just been given the best toy in the world. He opens the door with the access code that only the two of them know and enters without a greeting.

"Tell me, did you finish with him?" he asks looking at the latest specimen.

"Of course," she answers, beaming with pride at her latest creation. She doesn't even bother to turn to see him. "He's deliciously ready."

"What about the Voltron Force?" He asks her.

She immediately turns to him, "Three of them are down. They won't be able to form Voltron at all at this point and those three are getting even more aggressive."

"It's good to know that Summers was of good use to us." Lotor says looking at the robeast.

"Yes, he's going to be of even better use now that he'll destroy Arus and all of them with it." The witch gregariously laughs.

Lotor smiles at his new pet, _'Well, he said he always wanted to fly.'_

********

"Where do you think you're going?" Allura asks stopping Keith dead in his tracks as he heads towards the rectangular access panel that would lead him to Black.

"I'm going to find Lance," he tells her matter of factly.

"You're in no condition to fly." Allura states defiantly. "Besides, we still don't know where to look."

"I think I do Princess," Keith answers.

------

Lance walks around fighting the torment inside of him that won't leave him…

_'What the hell is going on with me? What if I killed him? Naw, the damn bastard deserved it!'_

He feels like he's going crazy. Suddenly, the cabin feels smaller or is it him feeling that in order to tame himself he needs to do that which has been ordered of him?

He had thought about it long and hard. He knows it is the only way to get what he wants. _'If Keith can break the rules, so can I!'_

His arm burns. He looks at the tattoo embedded on it. It glows, this green emerald glow that burns so much it hurts. The only way to stop it…the only way to stop the burning, the feelings of hate he feels inside, is to do it. There's no other choice.

He walks towards the door about to leave the room when the video phone turns on,

"Lance, I know you're there." Lance turns when he hears and then sees Keith looking right at him.

------

Dr. Mateus Gorma walks around the room checking over the vital signs of his two current patients. Darrell and Hunk share a room, but neither is cognizant of the other as they have been put into a deep controlled sleep that prevents them from attempting any more escapes.

Darrell and Hunk had become so aggressive that Dr. Gorma had even decided to strap them down, just in case they wake up. _Precautions are necessary_, he thinks.

For a man in his late 40's, Gorma looks quite athletic and very well preserved. His dark brown hair has a barely noticeable receding line and his goatee nicely complements his rugged features.

A few of the nurses have been caught admiring the good doctor, but know that his professionalism precedes any type of thought that sparks in their minds. Gorma is all business. Rumor has it that he's been talking with a woman physician from Earth, others have said he's been seeing a woman from the Terran valley.

Apparently the good doctor is an avid playboy after work. Some of the nurses are disappointed they don't get to see this side of him in MedTech.

Checking his patients' vitals he notices that their adrenaline levels are increasing. They seem to be in pure torment as they lightly thrash around their beds, every now and again moaning incoherent words. As he checks them, he notices on their arms the tattoos brightening into a dark emerald glow that is slowly intensifying.

He studies the tattoo on Hunk's arm, but his concentration is slightly broken when he hears the door to the room open.

"Doctor," he hears Selena's voice.

"Yes, Selena," he says without turning around.

"There's someone here to see you. He says he's the healer." She answers him.

Gorma turns around. "I thought he was coming in later. Thank heaven, he's arrived early. Selena, can you please finish the charting for me?"

"Of course Dr. Gorma." She says walking towards him and taking his chart.

Gorma leaves the room quickly. Selena walks up to Darrell, checks his vitals and finishes writing out the latest information on his condition. Then she walks up to Hunk to do the same. Selena stays watching over Hunk a little longer, a concerned look flashing in her eyes. She lightly caresses his cheek and whispers to him in his ear, "I have faith you'll be alright Hunk. You're going to be ok."

-----

"What luck, I thought you'd be dead by now." Lance flatly tells Keith.

"It's nice to know what your intentions were when you managed to knock me out." Keith tells him. His dark eyes never leaving Lance's light browns.

Lance falls silent, but then raises another question, "How did you find me?"

"I remembered you once told me that you would always go to your parent's cabin in Montana when you wanted to get away from your problems or when you wanted to think things through. Thought I'd give it a shot."

"Sometimes you are too damned smart for your own good Captain," Lance smirks sarcastically. Lance starts feeling a burning on his arm and notices the glowing green hue resonating from it. He covers it immediately with his other hand.

Keith notices his friend's painful, but angry glare and decides to plead with him, "Lance, you need to come back. Please, we can help you."

"Spare me your crap, Captain. I know you're only calling about the Red Kitty, but don't worry. I'll return him to Arus as soon as I'm done here." He says with a sadistic humorous laugh. Then his tone changes and he comes closer to the view screen. "Don't expect me back though. I quit."

"You're leaving the force?" Keith questions him intently, but without showing him any emotions.

"Everything! I'm leaving the Force, the Garrison, hell, even the Alliance. I'm going where I'll get the recognition I deserve." Lance answers him raising his voice.

"What are you planning to do Lance?"

"I'm breaking the rules Captain. I figure, if you can do it and get a higher ranking, so can I! And it seems that my talents are being viewed by a certain person who truly thinks highly of me and wants me on their team."

"Lance?"

"Consider this friendship over." Keith hears Lance state as he cuts communications.

Keith sits in back of Allura, who is flying Blue Lion. He bangs his hand against the console, as Allura looks back.

"You think we'll be able to reach his parent's cabin in time?"

"I don't know…." He answers, not really paying attention to the question.

"Keith, what did he mean about leaving everything? He can't mean he's resigning?" she inquires as he keeps looking ahead.

Keith remains silent, not because he doesn't want to answer her, but because he's trying to think of what Lance is up to. Allura decides to keep quiet and resumes flying. She knows that when Keith becomes pensive, his mind is working on solving the problems at hand. She decides to wait until he speaks.

Minutes pass as Allura continues flying, waiting anxiously on Keith, but unwilling to break his concentration. Finally she hears his voice.

"Oh God," he says in a mere whisper.

"What? What is it?"

"Lance….I think he's going to join Lotor."

**********

Dr. Gorma walks into his office to find a short bald man sitting on the visitor's chair across from his desk. Wearing a dark red, long cloak with a hood on the back, Gorma walks up to him with a welcoming smile,

"You must be Elios. Thank you for coming." He says extending his hand to the small man.

The little man smiles and bows to Gorma before taking the doctor's hand and giving it a warm shake.

"It is a pleasure and an honor to serve the Royal House." he says calmly.

"I wasn't expecting you until sometime tomorrow." Gorma says delighted. "We could really use your help Elios. More than half of the Voltron Force has been hit with what I think is some kind of spell. Medically, there is nothing I can do."

"Well Doctor, I hope I can be of service to all of you." Elios says once again calmly. He exudes a sense of peace that even the doctor feels while he's around him. "Take me to them."

**********

Lance gets out of the shower quickly and dresses using some jeans and a casual green t-shirt that he had left back on his last visit to the cabin. He plays in his mind how he's going to complete this mission that his new "commander" has assigned him.

It had been hours since he last spoke to Lotor. He had done so while flying back to Earth.

_"Well, to what do I owe this surprise, Lieutenant McClain?" Lotor snarls at Lance, his face showing his hatred towards the Lieutenant._

_"I don't have time for you ridiculous sarcasm Lotor. I want to make a deal."_

_Lotor shows no surprise in his face, but studies the young Lieutenant with silent regard. __**'Haggar's spell is working better than I thought.'**_

_"And what deal would that be?"_

_"I give you Voltron and you give me the highest military position in your kingdom." Lance replies back with such seriousness that even Lotor can't withhold his surprise._

_"You want to…switch sides?" Lotor asks in disbelief._

_"Only if you give me what I want."_

_Lotor thinks for a moment. __**'Well, this spell has made things even more interesting for me.'**__ He smiles back at Lance._

_"It's a deal Lieutenant, but you will have to do one thing for me if you want me to believe you." Lotor continues. "I wouldn't want to think you are tricking me. I would need you to get rid of someone important enough for me to believe you are serious about this."_

_Lance thinks for a moment. "Who?"_

_"Why, your Commander of course,"_

_Lance snorts, "That would be too hard for now. I just escaped from the castle; they're looking for me right now."_

_"Are you sure that's the reason?" _

_"I am sure!" Lance yells back, "Besides, we had an altercation earlier, I'm sure I injured him enough to put him out of commission for a while."_

_Lotor laughs to himself as he thinks, __**'This can't get any better!'**_

_"Alright Lieutenant, how about someone more reachable, but important. Do you have someone in mind?_

_Lance thinks for a moment, then a nice little smile forms from his arching lips. "Oh, I have someone."_

He makes his way to the kitchen to get the coffee that he started brewing before he showered and pours himself a cup from the pot that sits on the burner. Afterward, he takes the stairs up to his father's study and enters, looking at the cases of guns in the cabinet. He sits on the desk and punches in some codes on the video phone.

After a moment, a young Asian officer is seen on the screen.

"Good evening, Admiral Graham's office, how can I help you?"

*************

Elios slowly walks into the MedTech infirmary feeling the room first before setting his eyes on Hunk and Darrell, still asleep on their beds.

"Well, there is evil in the room. I feel it." Elios says taking in the room with his sight. As he walks closer to Hunk and Darrell he notices the glowing tattoos on their arms.

Walking up to Darrell, he lightly passes his hand over the young officer's tattoo, but without touching it.

"Hmm…" Elios says as he lets out a small sigh.

"What is it Elios?" Gorma asks nervously not liking the sound coming from Elios.

"This is a Wokanism spell. Powerful, but it can be remedied."

Gorma smiles, "Then you can save them!" he says.

"The spell can be removed." Elios answers uneasily. "But usually when this happens…."

"What?"

"The victims die."

**************

"We're ready to begin attacking Lotor," the witch states as she walks into the throne room. She finds Lotor and Ammad in a deep conversation.

"Change of plans Haggar." He says turning around to face her. "It seems that your spell worked better than we thought. The pilot of the Red Lion wants to join our forces."

Even Haggar is amazed by this revelation. "So, what do you want to do now?"

"I'm waiting on him to do the deed he promised, once he does, I'll assign him to infiltrate the castle before we attack. This should give us a much better advantage."

"So we wait." She says to him waiting for a reply.

"Prepare the robeast for transport. I'll let you know when we are ready to leave."

"As you wish," the witch says, noting that neither Lotor nor Ammad want to include her in their conversation. She reluctantly leaves the room, curious to know what is taking place between the two.

Turning again towards his human like official, Lotor asks Ammad, "Are you sure?"

"Yes, my Prince. He's been breaking into the control room before the changing of each guard. I think he's up to something. I've tried searching the logs, but have found no trace of calls. I'm sure he' deleting them from the system."

"That bastard!" Lotor says enraged. "Have Raysak keep an eye on him." Lotor tells Ammad who nods.

"Don't let my father know we are on to him. I want to know what he's up to." Lotor says as he walks up to his throne to sit.

Ammad nods, "As you wish my Prince."

"And Ammad?"

"Yes, you're Highness?"

"Your loyalty will be greatly rewarded."

Ammad smiles and bows to the Prince. He walks out of the room and takes out his comm. device. "Raysak," he calls the half human, half android.

"Yes, Ammad." Replies the raspy voice.

"I have a job for you. See me in my office in five minutes."

"As you wish."

*********

Allura lands Blue a couple of yards away from the medium sized split level cabin. Once landed, both she and Keith exit the lion and head towards it, making their way up the steps to reach the screen porch entrance.

"He's not here," Keith says as he makes his way up.

"How do you know?"

"I don't see Red anywhere and he's hard to miss."

"Right," Allura says as she reminds herself that Lance had taken the Red lion.

They find the screen porch door unlocked and they make their way in, Allura tries to open the cabin door, but doesn't succeed.

"Locked." Allura says. "What now?"

"We break in. Stand back Princess." Keith says as he takes his laser gun and points to a window and fires.

The window shatters in pieces, but allows Keith a quick entrance in. Moments later, Keith opens the door to allow Allura in.

Allura walks in to find a clean and cozy rustic atmosphere, wood all over the place. A beige sofa, with red and green blankets, sits in the living room area. Beige pillows lazily decorate it and give it color. One brown recliner, a wooden rocking chair, log tables and a red Persian rug complete the living room look. The walls are covered by stuffed heads of deer and elk. There are also pictures of Lance and his family, most likely taken when they vacationed there.

On the farther end of the cabin is the kitchen, complete with stainless steel appliances and a small kitchen table.

"It's pretty cozy here." Allura says walking around.

Keith nods. "He told me that his family used to spend the summers here. It was also his hangout during his Academy breaks." He starts heading up the stairs. "Princess, start looking to see if he left something that might give us a clue as to where he's headed."

"Sure,"

Allura makes her way into the kitchen and finds the coffee pot still mildly hot. "Keith!"

"Yes," he yells from upstairs.

"I don't think he's been gone long. He made coffee, it is still hot."

"Shit!" She hears Keith say from upstairs.

Allura takes to the stairs, "Keith, where are you?"

"In the office." He says out loud. She tries to locate him by the sound of his voice and finds him in the second room to the left.

"What did you find?" Allura asks.

"He took a couple of guns, a pair of night vision glasses, I think some hunting knives, and god knows what else." He says as he looks inside the cabinet and finds a couple of items missing.

"I think he's reached the limit of this spell. He's completely dangerous Keith." Allura says as she looks around the office.

"I know Princess," Keith replies as he walks to the desk. He looks at the call log and notices that Lance placed a call to Admiral Graham just 15 minutes prior.

"He called the Admiral a few minutes ago." He tells Allura.

"Why would he do that?" Allura asks skeptically. "Could it be that maybe he wants to give an official resignation?"

Keith ponders the situation for a while. Resigning would require reason and Lance was nowhere near reasoning at the moment. Suddenly, Keith feels a wave of heat pass through his body. He feels hot as concrete. Looking at the cabinet, he reflects on the missing weapons, the call to the Admirals office and Lance's last chilling words to him. A thought flashes through his mind like lightning hitting a tree during a dark and dangerous thunder storm.

"Princess," Keith says looking at her. Allura sees his face turning white, "I think Lance is going to kill Admiral Graham."

***********

Turning to Elios, Dr. Gorma's face is one of defeat and total disappointment. All this time, he relied on Elios to give him a glimmer of hope that this spell could be broken and that the young men would be alright in the long run.

Elio's last words to him hit him like strong waves pounding the rocks of the shore. If these two members of the Voltron Force died and the third, if Keith and Allura could somehow get him back, would end up suffering the same fate, Arus would be lost. Lotor would win this time and the thought of peace would be a distant memory.

Elios must have seen this look too, for he took his hand and gently placed it on the doctor's arm. "Doctor it is a hard spell to break, but it isn't impossible and I will do my best to see that they live." Elios pats the doctor's arm to comfort him.

It must have worked, for Gorma smiles slightly and Elios sees a small glimmer go back to his eyes. "Thank you Elios. You have no idea how precious their lives are to Arus and personally, to me. In a way, I've come to care for all of them as my children. Granted, they don't listen to me most of the time and completely push my patience. But they are really Arus' only hope for peace."

"I understand doctor." Elios nods with a peaceful smile. It is that smile that fills Gorma once again with peace. "I must ask you doctor that you respect the way I'm going to treat them."

"I don't understand what you mean?" Gorma inquires curiously.

"What I mean doctor is that I must treat them alone. No nurses, no guards and even you will need to leave the room."

"Ah," Gorma says nodding. "I understand Elios. I will respect your wishes."

"Also I ask that you turn off the cameras in the room as well as all audio devices. I must have complete privacy."

Without a thought, Gorma raises his hand and places it on his heart. That was the Arusian custom to show respect for another's wishes, "I promise Elios, I will do everything possible to make sure you get all the privacy you need."

"Thank you Doctor. Well, we better begin."

------

"Look, there's Red." Allura says as she uses Blue's heat sensors to detect any life form or object that carries heat within it. Judging by its size and amount of heat, Allura figures the Red lion is about three miles north, outside the base.

"He must have reached the base on foot." Keith says looking at the location of Red from the passenger seat of Blue.

"Do you want me to fly into the base?" Allura asks looking at Keith.

"No, I don't want him to find out we are here." Keith tells her. "Land about a mile away, we'll have to make it on foot as well."

"Keith, we need to stop him before he does something he'll regret."

"I know Princess, believe me. I'm not about to let Lance ruin his life."

-----

Gorma had walked into the room about 5 minutes previously to tell Elios that all his demands were met and he was free to begin his procedure. Elios turns off all the lights in the room with the exception of the emergency lights, which are dimmed at the far corner of the room.

Elios walks around and stands in the middle between Hunk and Darrell. The tattoos on their arms have turned an even brighter dark green hue. Both men are moaning and thrashing about, a very disturbing sight. Their faces are hard and distorted even in their sleep.

Elios closes his eyes and holds out both hands up in the air. The men thrash even more harshly, the only thing keeping them in their beds are the straps that hold them tightly. He tries to concentrate despite their loud moaning and screaming.

He clasps his hands and holds them tightly together. Suddenly, Elios' hands start glowing with a golden light. Eyes still closed, Elios lets as much energy as he can form between his hands. Slowly, he expands his hands and forms a ball of golden light. Winds begin blowing inside the room. The ball of light becomes bigger and bigger and within moments the golden light engulfs the room.

------

The set up could not be more perfect, Lance thinks as he hides inside a large oak that faces the inside of the conference room where the Admiral and some of Garrison's lead officers hold their weekly evening meetings.

As always, Graham sits at the head of the table, facing the window. Lance finds it hard to stop smiling as he realizes he has the perfect shot.

He takes out the rifle he took from his father's cabinet from the black back pack he's carrying. The rifle had belonged to his great, great grandfather, Eli McClain who also served in the military, the Marines, as it had been called back then. It is quite an interesting weapon he thinks, as he takes a look at it. His father had taught him how to use it when he was about twelve years old. The rifle had an aluminum die casting body, a metal hop-up chamber and a barrel length of 509mm. Its high speed motor could maintain a magazine of 130 rounds. Luckily for Lance, he would only need a couple to get the job done and no one would realize who would have killed Graham. The gun was now considered an antique, no one would be able to trace it or him for that matter and even if they did, he'd be long gone to Doom by them.

Lance adjusts the rifle in his arms, getting a feel for the weapon once more, and trying to grip it in a comfortable position. He looks through its scope in order to aim at his target. He can see the Admiral discussing something, unaware of what's about to occur. Lance adjusts his vision, puts his finger on the trigger, and closes his left eye to get a better focus with the right one he's using to look into the scope. Just as he's about to pull the trigger, he sees Graham look up, say something, and suddenly, all of the occupants of the conference room stand up and make an exit.

"What the hell?" Lance whispers to himself surprised. He had a perfect shot and in a matter of seconds it was gone.

------

Gorma walks slowly to the room that holds Hunk and Darrell. Elios notified him that he could finally come in. As he gets closer to the room, he feels strange. Maybe it was panic, fear, that the outcome would be one of loss. He couldn't bear the thought. The Force makes their way to MedTech one way or another, a fight, a crashed lion, or laser burns which are the most common. But Gorma has always had control of them; this time however, everything was out of his hands and this rocked him to his very core. This time around, he had to agree and accept that he would need help. Lotor was using every weapon imaginable and for some reason, Gorma thinks magic will play a bigger part in the conquest for Arus this time around.

Walking in, he hears the machines beeping. He looks straight at the heart monitors and finds them beeping softly. _'Thank God! They're alive!'_ he thinks as he walks to Elios who now looks tired and drained.

"Are you alright Elios?" he asks softly and with concern.

"I'll be fine doctor. Nothing that a bit of rest won't cure. As you can see, the spell is broken." Elios says with a bit of pride in him.

Gorma looks at his patients who still sleep peacefully. They're arms are now wiped clean of any tattoo markings.

"Thank you so much Elios. You've saved them!" Gorma says shaking the short man's hand. "When will they wake?"

"What is left over are the drugs you had administered to sedate them. Once that wears off, they will wake."

Gorma nods, "Alright, may I show you to your room so you can rest a bit? I'm hopeful that the Captain and the Princess will return with Lieutenant McClain who will also need your help."

"Yes, thank you. A bit of rest will be good so when they return I'll be once again ready."

With that Gorma takes Elios out of the infirmary and leads him to his room.

Moments later, Selena walks in and looks over at the two men now peacefully sleeping on their beds.

She walks up to Hunk immediately and holds his hand and whispers softly in his ear. "See, I told you you'd be alright, Lieutenant. You're going to be fine." She says softly to him. She raises herself from leaning to him and is about to leave when she feels a small tug coming from Hunk's hand which still holds hers. Selena isn't sure, but she swears she sees a faint and gentle smile on Hunk's lips.

----

Unaware of what is lurking outside; Graham sits in full discussion with Garrison leaders regarding the Resistance Group that is forming on Doom.

"Admiral, I think we should be taking a closer look at this group. Even though they want to take out Lotor, they are still Drules, how can we trust them?" Says the woman sitting next to him.

"I have to agree with General Rice," Says the tall dark man on the opposite end of the table. "They haven't even disclosed their leader's name or whereabouts. Do we even know if it is Lotor himself, playing tricks on us?"

"I understand your feelings, this is a very delicate situation we are dealing with here, but…" He gets cut off by another officer who has decided to express his opinions on the matter.

The Admiral hears his comments but remains quiet. As he is about to speak, the room's intercom beeps.

"Admiral Graham," says a voice.

Graham instantly recognizes it, "Captain Kogane?" he says surprised.

"Yes, Admiral. I am outside the door. I need you and the rest of the council members to please exit the room as fast but as orderly as possible. Do not run out."

"What is this about Captain?"

"Please sir, do what I say, your lives depend on it." are the only words Keith can say to make them act fast.

Immediately, the Admiral calls the order to vacate the room. Once outside he meets Keith and Allura after he dismisses the other officers.

"What's going on Kogane?" He asks with a serious but worried tone.

"Sir, I have reasons to believe that Lance, under the spell of course, may want to kill you."

"What? How could that be?"

Allura then takes over. "We think that the spell is completely alternated his state of mind and somehow he figures that by killing you, he can have a high ranking position with…Lotor."

Graham stands there stunned. "I can't believe that." He says shaking his head.

"Sir, it's the spell. It's getting stronger and we need to stop Lance before he loses all reason." Keith interjects.

"What can I do?" Graham asks.

"For now," Allura answers. "You need to stay somewhere safe. Somewhere that he can't get to you."

"That's preposterous Princess. I can't do that!" Graham says, his ego hurt as if she is asking him to run away from his duty as a soldier.

"Admiral, you'll need to. It's the only way I can help Lance." Keith cut in. "Please, I know you'd never run away from anything. But I must ask that you help us by staying away from Lance."

The Admiral slowly nods, but is quite distraught by the decision. "Alright Captain, I'll follow your orders, but keep me informed on what is going on.'

Allura places her hand on his shoulders to comfort him. "Of course, we will Admiral, don't worry."

The Admiral gives her a curt smile, and then watches as two other officers enter the room. Both are tall and muscular looking men with short dark hair. One has dark blue eyes while the other has light green. Both men are huge in stature and Allura believes that they are mainly used for intimidation. With that thought in mind, she is sure that Keith purposely used them to escort the Admiral out.

"These officers will escort you to the bunkers underground until I get a hold of Lance." Keith says immediately upon their entrance.

Nodding once again, the Admiral walks away with the officers.

Keith starts to walk into the conference room. Allura follows but he stops her. "I think you should stay out of the room, Princess."

"I highly doubt that he planted something in there, Keith. Even he couldn't have done that this fast."

He hesitates, but allows her to follow him in. "Alright, but don't touch anything."

"Fine, Captain." She says raising both hands.

They walk in and Keith immediately starts checking for any harmful weapons or devices in the room. After finding nothing, he walks to over to the window trying to think of where else Lance would plan the hit.

----

As soon as he sees Keith in front of the window, Lance swears to himself. _'Bastard's on to me!'_ He's angry at himself for not thinking that the Captain would realize what his intentions were. He should have kept his mouth shut, but he had to gloat.

In a spark of a moment, he realizes that what he has in front of him is an even better opportunity. The person that Lotor had wanted dead in the first place…the Captain of the Voltron Force. Standing right in front of him. "Just my luck!" he whispers as he once again looks through his scope, aims and fires.

------

Hunk tries to open his eyes but for the life of him, it has become a very hard task to do. He moans trying to see if he can at least talk.

Then he hears a sweet but soft voice in his ear, "It's ok Lieutenant. You're safe. It's alright."

_'I'm ok? Shouldn't I be?'_ he thinks to himself. _'Did I get hurt in battle? No, we were on Earth. I can't remember a thing!'_

Suddenly he opens his eyes to see a lovely vision. She has short red hair, feathered to her neck and the brightest blue eyes he has ever seen, well, next to Allura's. But what is different about this set of eyes is that they look at him with such care and love that he thinks, for a moment, he is imagining things.

"It's ok. I know you feel a bit groggy from for the medications the doctor gave you. They will wear off shortly."

"Selena?"

"I'm glad you remember my name!" she says delighted. "We've only seen each other on occasions, didn't think you knew it."

"I couldn't forget a name like yours. It's…it's very pretty." He answers with a faint smile.

She blushes, not sure what to say next. He looks around and then sees Darrell is out cold. Suddenly, he worries. She can tell by the look in his eyes.

"Lieutenant Stoker will be fine. He'll come around soon."

"What happened? Why are we back at Arus?"

Selena sighs and takes a chair next to his bed and starts telling him what has happened in the last 48 hours. As she retells the events, his mind quickly projects images of what has happened and he remembers.

"Oh God!" he says raising his voice, "What the hell did we do!"

"It wasn't your fault, Lieutenant." She says placing her hand on his shoulder.

"Jesus! What the hell is Keith going to think?"

"He thinks nothing. I'm sure he'll be happy when he sees you both are alright." She says to him smiling.

He takes her hand from his shoulder and holds it gently. "I hope so Selena because we have a lot of making up to do. You still haven't heard from them?"

"No, not yet. I hope they find Lieutenant McClain soon."

"Selena?"

"Yes,"

"Call us by our first names. We hate rankings." Hunk tells her smiling and patting her hand.

Selena laughs at his playfulness and gently squeezes his hands back. "Alright Hunk....alright."

-----

Looking out the window, Keith continues thinking of places where Lance could possibly be. The good thing about him is that Keith can more or less calculate his moves, but the bad part is that he is so damn spontaneous that the possibilities are endless and he doesn't have time to go over each one. Frustrated he continues to look out, but his mind seems to be elsewhere.

As Keith thinks, Allura begins to look out the window herself, looking at how dusk is coming around, the sky turning shades of orange and red as night slowly begins to settle in. Light breezes tap the leaves and it seems to her that they are playing some type of melody. She imagines the sounds of the leaves as they wrestle against each other hitting the branches and trunks they lie on. To her it's like an orchestra playing a song.

Suddenly from the rather large oak in front the window, she spots something moving. A figure seems to be sitting on a rather thick branch. It hides within the bulge of the oak, she can faintly see it, but can't make out if it is her imagination or something literally lurking inside the massive tree. She looks at Keith who stands with his finger between his lips, deep in thought. Then, she sees a faint red dot moving over Keith's forehead. She looks out, scans the oak for the figure. Her eyes widen as she can only infer who she sees.

"Keith!" she screams as she pushes him away from the window with such quickness that Keith doesn't know what happened. She lands on top of him on the floor, just before they hear the window shatter as bullets fly in. He immediately rolls her over, covering her body with his.

"Shit!" he says surprised. "Lance!"

"He's in the oak tree!"

"Stay down! Don't move!" he says as waits a while and sees no other action. He slowly stands up away from the window and peeks out from its side only to see Lance get down from the tree and make a run to the airfield.

-----

"He's making his way to the airfield." Keith says as he motions to Allura that she can get up. "He's going to take a ship. We have to stop him."

"What do you want me to do?" Allura asks.

"Get to Blue. Meet me at the airfield. I'll try to stop him." He says as he runs out of the room.

----

Lance swears under his breath. _'Damn it. I almost had him.'_ He needs to get away. They're on to him. There's no time to get to Red, so he'll have to take one of the ships from the base.

Upon getting to the airfield, where a couple of ships are stationed, he runs into one of the patrolling officers.

"Officer, I'll need one of those ships immediately."

The officer looks at him with suspicion. Aside from the fact that Lance is nowhere near dressed in uniform, he hasn't addressed the officer properly or identified himself. He is every bit out of protocol, that the alarms inside the officer's head begin ringing massively.

"With all do respect sir, who are you?" he asks a bit arrogantly.

Lance sighs, he doesn't have time for this, "Lieutenant Lance McClain, Voltron Force. Now I need your damn ship!"

The officer laughs in Lance's face, "Sorry, sir, you can't be the Lieutenant. He's on Arus and he definitely wouldn't act like you are at this moment." He draws out his weapon and aims it at Lance. "Stand down sir. Hands above your head." He says seriously.

Lance is now the one that laughs. When he sees the opportunity to take the officer out, he swerves and with a karate kick to the officer's face, knocks him out cold.

"Asshole," he says as he bends to see if he has some keys or something to open up one of the ships.

After a while, he locates a key card and holds it up to read the access number. Lance starts looking at the long triangular shaped, silver ships, trying to find the access number located on their sides that match the one on the keycard. Finally, after what seems to be an eternity, he locates the ship that matches the card. He inserts the key on the side panel and the ship's top opens as an electronic stairwell descends, allowing Lance to enter it. He immediately climbs in and begins accessing the codes to start the engines. Engrossed in turning the damn ship on, he doesn't notice a figure that has made its way up the side of ship and immediately places a gun to his head.

"Get out of the seat Lieutenant." He hears Keith's cold voice.

Lance laughs again, "You won't kill me Captain, I know _that_ for a fact." He says slyly.

"I won't repeat myself again. Get up!"

Lance slowly begins to get up but upon turning around he punches Keith in the face. Keith slides off the ship and falls to the floor landing on his back, dropping the gun. Lance quickly jumps out of the ship and picks up the gun. He aims at Keith.

"Finally I get to finish this!" he yells, but Keith is fast and kicks the gun out of Lance's hand as he quickly stands. Once up, he punches Lance hard in the jaw. Lance falls back but not completely and regains his balance. He swings at Keith with an uppercut, tearing his lower lip. Keith tries to maintain his balance and manages to punch Lance in the stomach.

Lance swears while glaring at Keith with so much hatred and despise that Keith feels a little frightened by this strange and uncharacteristic look from his best friend. Lance lunges at Keith and gives him a good solid jab, hitting Keith's left eye. But Keith won't quit either. He right hooks Lance, then left hooks him, and finally gives him an upper cut knocking Lance out completely.

Tired, Keith falls to his knees beside his friend. "I'm sorry buddy," he whispers as he sees Blue descend.


	5. Regrets

Regrets

The witch's eyes glow an even brighter yellow as she pours out a gut wrenching scream.

"NO!" she shakes with her anger as she sees her spell has been broken.

"Impossible! There's no one on Arus who could have broken this!" she continues screaming. Her screams even cause her blue cat Coba to run and hide under one of her laboratory tables.

Haggar runs out of her lab, unwilling to allow herself to be beaten. Her magic didn't work, but she was sure that her robeast would bring her up again in the Prince's good graces. _I won't let them beat me!_ She thinks to herself.

She enters Lotor's office without knocking. "We need to get to Arus now!" she demands.

"What's happened?" Lotor says, standing, "Don't tell me that you screwed up!"

"The spell, someone has broken it for two of the three that were infected. I'm sure it won't take long before the third one is broken as well."

"What magic did you use?" Lotor inquires calmly at first. "Don't tell me you used some of that old shit from the past!" he questions her, raising his voice.

"I didn't think we would need something so powerful for this occasion!" She offers in defense of her failure.

Lotor walks up to Haggar and slaps her with such force that the witch falls to the floor.

"Fool! You just can't get rid of that ego of yours! You thought you could out do the Galia magic I brought you. Don't underestimate me witch, I'm not afraid to destroy you!"

"Don't underestimate _me_ Lotor!" the witch says as she stands up. "I can destroy you, Galia magic or not!"

"Really? Try it!" Lotor says as he walks up to her. Both pairs of yellow eyes glare at each other, neither conceding defeat. "Try it witch," Lotor continues saying, "Try killing me now. I'll even make it easy for you." He says as he pulls his sword from his waist and throws it across the room.

There is something in Lotor's eyes that Haggar doesn't like. She isn't sure, but Lotor's eyes seem different. The fear that she had instilled in him before is no longer there. There is however, something else, not the cockiness or even the immaturity there was in the past. This time, there is something much more frightening…to her! There is something within Lotor that he is hiding from her. It is something more powerful than anything he has given her…

"So…destroy me witch!" he taunts her.

Haggar takes a deep breath as she thinks, _This isn't the right time. I have to further analyze this._

"This isn't the time to turn on each other. We must act fast if you want to win."

Lotor laughs, "You're afraid of me." He pauses, then turns around and picks up his sword. "Did you use the magic that I gave you on Summers?"

"Yes," she simply answers.

He nods, but doesn't look at her. "Prepare yourself, we leave in an hour."

The old witch turns around and heads toward the door, and just as the doors are about to open, he calls her, "And Haggar?"

"Ye.." she hasn't even finished saying the words as she feels the sword pierce her cloak and graze her shoulder before embedding itself in the wall. She gives a scream, not loud, but enough to tell him that it hurt.

"Remember, you're not dealing with the same person anymore. Next time, I won't miss on purpose."

She tears her cloak away from the sword forcefully and without saying a word, she walks out.

*********

Darrell's eyes look like they are about to jump out of their sockets as Hunk relays to him the events that have transpired in the last two days.

"Hunk, I'm not dreaming, right?" He says shaking in frustration. "We didn't do those things, did we?"

"I'm afraid so, Shorty." Hunk says as they head to the control room. Gorma had cleared them and they were able to leave MedTech. They quickly got out, showered, and reported to Coran. Hunk hadn't spoken to Darrell until that moment, when he thought his younger friend had his head clearer.

"You think they'll be able to get to Lance?" Darrell inquires worried. "If what Gorma said is true, his spell will be much harder to break than ours and the longer he's in it, the stronger it will get."

"Don't worry, Darrell. You know Keith…he'll bring him back here. Maybe in pieces, but he'll get him back here."

They make their way to the control room to find Coran working diligently at the controls. "Gentlemen, I'm glad you're back to your senses." The old man says warmly.

Darrell and Hunk cringe when they see the gash on Coran's forehead. Coran must have picked up on it as he immediately touches it. "Don't worry. I had a small confrontation with Lieutenant McClain. But I can't blame him either. I'm alright."

"We don't know what to say," Hunk says, embarrassment evident in his now droopy eyes.

"Don't blame yourselves. This was Haggar's doing, not your own. Let's be happy it is almost over."

"Have you heard from them?" Darrell asks.

"No, not yet."

Seconds later they hear Keith's voice on the small video screen next to the controls.

"Coran?"

They all turn immediately. "Captain?" Coran's face falls when he sees Keith face. Bruises cover his face, his left eye is slightly swollen and his bottom lip bruised, dry blood still visible.

Seeing the look on Coran's face, Keith knows what he is thinking. "Don't worry, I'm alright. Lance is not looking very pretty himself, but we got him."

"Thank God!" Coran sighs,

"Keith, I never thought Lance would get the upper hand on you!" Darrell says jokingly.

Smiling, Keith has never been so relieved and happy to see the youngest team member smiling back at him. Darrell's face is back to the gentle and happy kid he's always been. "Darrell! Man, I'm glad you're ok! Where's Hunk?"

"Right here Captain!" the big man steps in closer. "Keith, we're so sorry…"

"You don't have to be sorry Lieutenant." Keith cuts him off with a smile. "I'm just glad you guys are alright. Hopefully, Lance will be alright soon as well."

"How's the Princess?" Coran asks, worried that she might also be injured.

"I'm right here Coran!" she's heard through the speaker.

Coran punches some codes and both Keith and Allura are seen on the larger screen between split images. Happy to see that his princess looks well, Coran breaths a little easier.

"Hi guys!" Allura says warmly. "Thank heavens you're well!"

"We're glad we're ok too!" Darrell tells her. "Boy, at least we're glad we didn't do anything to you! Well, maybe just scare you half to death."

"That you did!" she states laughing. "I'm glad you're back guys!"

"We're heading for Arus. We should be there in an hour or so." Keith says.

"I'll contact Dr. Gorma and have him on standby." Coran states.

"Will do. We'll see you soon." Keith finishes as he and Allura turn off communication.

"Looks like things are returning back to normal." Hunk says as a call comes in to the control room.

Coran punches in the codes to receive the call and Darien is seen on the large view screen. "Prince Darien, I thought you weren't due for another couple of days?"

"I wasn't," Darien says a bit annoyed. "But after not hearing from Allura in the last 48 hours, I decided to cut my trip short. Where is she anyway?"

"On her way back to Arus my Prince." Coran answers as diplomatically as he can.

"Where was she? I thought you told me she was on Arus? Where could she be this late in the evening?" Darien questions, his lividness apparent within his features. "Where's Kogane?" he finally asks reaching the real question he wants answered.

"The Captain is with the Princess and Lieutenant McClain. They should return in an hour. I'll allow the Princess to tell you the details of the mission." Coran answers him, not wanting to give out more than Allura would want to say. He was leaving that to her.

Still annoyed, Darien curtly nods, "I'll be in Arus airspace in about 5 minutes."

"Yes, my Prince." Coran says as Darien severs communication. Coran sighs, frustrated that Darien is back. The last thing they need is him in the middle of this mass chaos, weaseling himself in and barking orders he knows nothing about.

"Well, like I said, everything is going back to normal." Hunk restates with a disappointed sigh.

*********

Haggar is not angry. She is enraged with an infuriated wrath that could burn off the walls of her lair. Anxious to get the plan started, she needs, no wants, to do a bit more harm. _So two of the pilots are back, well at least I still have one under my control. I'm going to make sure they have a hell of a time with him!_

She walks over to her pit of fire and starts concentrating, honing in on the last pilot that her spell is on. Suddenly, her yellow eyes open and turn a bright green as she recites the spell over and over….

-----

Meanwhile, in the cockpit of the Red Lion, Lance is lying down on the floor with his hands and feet tied. He opens his eyes as a green brightness shines in them.

**********

Keith turns around to see how Lance is doing. _'Still out cold'_ he thinks to himself as he shifts back and focuses on the ride ahead. After knocking Lance out, he tied his hands and feet as a precaution, just in case he would wake and wreak havoc again on the way back. Allura flew them to the spot where Red had been located. Keith then picked up his friend and flew back in Red. He didn't want Lance in Blue lion in fear of Lance hurting the Princess. Before leaving, he took out the portable medical kit and performed first aid on Lance and himself.

As he looks ahead, he's ponders how quiet the Princess has been on the way back. He hadn't heard much from her. Hopefully, she hasn't been too affected by the latest events. He connects his comm. to get a visual of her.

"Hey, you ok?" he questions her.

"I'm fine," she answers him sympathetically. She looks at his battered face as a single tear slides down her eyes. "I…I hope you are ok."

Looking at her, Keith's heart breaks. "Princess, believe me, I'm ok." he says as he smiles warmly at her. "You know it would take a lot to bring me completely down."

Sighing, she nods her head slightly. "Keith, he could have killed you…." she says, trying to keep herself from breaking into tears. "I don't know how to deal with that. When you went missing, I thought I was losing my mind and now…."

"Princess, I'm not going anywhere. Well, thanks to you. I never got around to thanking you for saving me."

"Well, at least I paid you back for the dozens of times you've saved me." She says with a little laugh.

Allura makes a sighing noise again. _'Wow, she's really agonizing over this.'_ He thinks, but he's unsure about how to get her out of this place she's in.

"Princess, please don't worry about me-"

"Don't worry about you?" she repeats with disbelief. "Keith, don't you understand? Don't you understand how I feel? You mean more to me than you'll ever know. I can't function knowing something might happen to you. Especially now, that you're back in my life."

"Princess…."

"No! Let me finish. That night, at the club…I didn't want to let go of you. Because….because…for a moment, my dream of being with you…had materialized. For a moment, I was not a princess and I was not engaged to someone I am not in love with. For a moment…I was yours Keith…yours, your girl. I know that there's been dozens of times you've been in this life and death predicament, but now that you're back, it feels different. I guess what I'm trying to say is that it has just struck me that I'm losing you in every way possible. And I'm having a hard time dealing with it right now."

He doesn't know how to respond. He knew that underneath their friendly surface something was there and that was their love for one another. He knew it the moment she raced out of that control room two years ago and clung to him, not wanting to let him go.

"Princess….no…" he pauses sighing; he has to say this right. "Allura…I love you…I think deep down we've always known what we feel for each other. I can't pinpoint when I started having these feelings for you. But I do know that leaving you two years ago was the hardest thing I've ever had to do." He pauses before speaking again, thinking his words through, "I've led a very complicated life, which you don't know…when you came into my life, you brought me happiness again." He smiles at her. "You give it meaning Allura."

"Keith…"

"I would give up anything and everything to be with you Allura. Everything. That's a luxury I have…unfortunately you don't. God, this is so hard to say." He says frustrated. "I know you've heard this a million times, but you have to see the bigger picture. Millions of people depend on you. You are their light in this war. Your people are ruled by tradition. To break it would mean chaos and at the end they would suffer. It's not fair to them Allura. You made a promise to protect your people, you…you just can't break it."

"So you want me to marry Darien?" she asks in utter disbelief.

"No!" His eyes begin to water, even though there are no tears coming down. "No, Allura, I don't want you to. If there was ever a possibility of that not happening…I would welcome it and I would be thankful for it. But there isn't."

"So what do we do? Keith, please don't leave me," she pleads as tears finally begin to slide down her cheeks.

"Allura…I will _never_ leave you. _Never!"_ Keith pledges looking at the video screen. "That's my promise to you."

"How can you live that way, knowing I'll be with another?"

"I can live knowing that you'll be safe, that you'll be protected, and that Arus will see you and appreciate you for all the sacrifices you've made."

"For all the sacrifices _we've_ made."

Keith nods wondering how doing the right thing can feel so wrong.

**********

Lotor walks to the front of his ship looking directly at Arus as they approach. Still a bit frustrated that not all of his plans are coming out to his expectations, he is glad at least that the witch still has control of one of the pilots. Maybe he would still be able to serve him. He had seen that the Red and Blue lions had reach Arus, but stayed far enough away to avoid their radar.

Haggar sits quietly off to the side, focusing her concentration on Lance. Making sure she's able to control him in every way she can. She hones in on him, focusing on his location.

She looks directly at nothing. She's there physically, but her mind is somewhere else until her eyes widen and she smiles, _I got him_!

"Lotor, all of the pilots are on Arus now. So is the pilot of the Red Lion, McClain."

"Do you still have control of him?"

"Yes," she says smiling at Lotor, but not really smiling _at him_. She's still focused on keeping the gateway open between her and Lance. "I can talk, act, feel through him and see through him."

"Do what you have to do, but make sure that we win!"

"Yes, sire."

*********

The witch feels the arms and feet are tied. She carefully looks around. The pilot is on the floor of the cockpit. The Commander is in the chair. He's talking to someone…the Princess! She's in the other lion. It is then that the witch realizes that she can make Lotor happy. She now has a plan to make Lotor ecstatic. Slowly, she makes Lance break the ropes tied to his hands and cautiously undoes the one on his legs.

------

"Entering Arus airspace," Keith says as they make their way inside the planet's atmosphere. "Coran, make sure to tell Dr. Gorma we are on the way."

From the comm. unit Keith can hear Coran, "I'll make sure to tell him immediately Captain." _'Thank God, we're back!_' Keith thinks to himself.

He turns on the video screen to the Princess. "Princess, I'll meet you in the control room."

"See you then," she simply says. Keith turns on the private line to speak to her.

"Allura," he says softly to her.

"I know Keith," she says with a sad smile. "I know. We can't control destiny. How about we just wait and see what happens. Maybe destiny will surprise us."

"Maybe," he smiles sadly back at her. "But for now, just know that I'll never leave your side."

"Or I yours."

They make their way into their perspective lion's dens. But just as Keith turns, he feels a fist hit his face and he falls back into the control panel.

Clearing his vision, he sees Lance standing in front of him. He turns Keith around and places a large hunting knife against his throat.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk my friend. You forgot to check my pockets." Lance says rather playfully.

"Lance, stop this!" Keith tries to say, but Lance begins choking him.

"Shut up! Where's the Princess?"

"Control room." He says through his clenched teeth. "But you won't take her."

"Well, let's just see about that. Let's go greet the Princess." Lance says as he takes Keith hostage.

------

Allura walks out of the dais to greeting everyone. She immediately goes to Darrell and pulls him into a hug.

"Oh God! How I've missed you!" She says holding him tight.

"Me too Princess," Darrell says while patting her back, "I'm sorry if I hurt you."

"Don't be sorry, I'm just glad you are here." She says to him; her smile never leaving. "Where's Hunk?"

"He'll be right in. He took Yellow out to greet Prince Darien."

"Darien's here?" she asks perplexed. "I thought he wasn't due for another day or two?"

They hear the doors of the control room swoosh open, "Hello Allura." Darien says flatly. His green eyes flashing at her.

"Darien," she says, "I wasn't expecting you."

"Well, I had to cut my trip short. Not hearing from you left me a bit…concerned." He says a bit sarcastically.

"Concerned?" she eyes him. "Well as you can see I'm fine."

"Not for long!" says a voice coming from the dais. They all turn to find Lance holding Keith by the throat. Allura gasps in surprise.

"Keith!" Allura says in an agonizing voice. "Lance, let him go!"

"Oh, I will. After you come with me…I'm taking you to Lotor!"

"What! You can't do that!" Darien says as he steps forward, but upon seeing Lance's face, takes a step back again.

"You want to make a switch?" Allura asks as she looks at Keith. Keith's eyes flash at her as if telling her. _'Don't even think about it!'_

"Of course. I failed my first assignment because of you two. But bringing you to Lotor should make it up." Lance answers. "And just to make sure you know I'm serious…" he cuts Keith on the neck. Not deep, it's just a surface wound, light enough to make his point clear. Keith closes his eyes in pain, but doesn't say a word.

Allura screams desperately, "No! Don't! I'll go with you. I'll go with you!" she utters as she steps forward.

"No!" Keith screams at her. "Absolutely not! You're not going anywhere!"

"Shut up Captain!" Lance tells him.

From the corner of her eye but without shifting her gaze from Lance, Allura sees Hunk slowly and quietly walking out of his dais. He puts his finger on his mouth to let the others know to keep quiet.

"Don't worry Lance," Allura says stalling. "I'll go with you, please let him go."

"No!" Keith screams with all his strength. Lance's grip is stronger. _The spell has made him impossibly strong_, he thinks.

"Go to your Blue Lion. Now!" Lance yells. "Throw your weapon on the floor before you leave. The rest of you don't move. I won't hesitate to slit his throat!"

Keith desperately tries to loosen Lance's grip to no avail. "Princess! No, don't do this!"

Hunk slowly comes closer to them. In a flash, Lance notices someone behind him and quickly turns throwing the knife as if he intends to hit the target. Hunk ducks as the knife embeds itself into the wall. Pushing Keith out of the way, Lance tries to make his way onto the dais, but Hunk is faster and tackles him on to the floor hard enough to knock him out.

"You alright Keith?" Hunk inquires as he gets up.

Keith stands, immediately checking on the princess, who is standing by the dais. She is about to run to Keith, but stops herself as she sees Darien running up to her and he hugs her. "I'm fine. Thanks big guy." Keith says as he nods at Allura as if to tell her he is ok.

"Anytime." Hunk replies as he starts picking up Lance.

"We better get him to Gorma now." Coran says walking closer to Keith and Hunk.

"Right! Hunk I'll take him." Keith answers and with no time to waste, he picks up his friend and leaves the control room.

**********

Carrying an unconscious Lance in a fireman's carry, Keith enters MedTech where he is greeted by Gorma and Elios.

"Get a stretcher!" Gorma calls out to two male nurses who immediately get one and bring it over to them. Keith carefully places his friend down and notices how the tattoo on Lance's arm is glowing brightly with a dark green hue.

"Take him over to room 8 and secure him like you did with the others." Gorma instructs the nurse, who nods and takes Lance away. Dr. Gorma looks at the Captain's face, full of bruises and a swollen lower lip, his neck slightly bleeding.

Noticing the look from the doctor, Keith explains, "He's completely lost all reasoning, doctor." He adds, "He was going to kill Admiral Graham and myself, not to mention taking the Princess to Lotor. I think the spell is much stronger now."

"Don't worry Keith," Gorma says reassuring him. He quickly takes gauze and tapes it over Keith's neck to stop the excess bleeding. "This should stop the bleeding for now. Elios was able to help Hunk and Darrell, I'm sure Lance will be fine." He turns and introduces the small man to Keith. "This is Elios, the healer."

Keith turns toward the little man and extends his hand to him. "Thank you for helping them," Keith says to him. Elios takes Keith's hand and immediately feels a dark energy pass through him that give him flashes of blood, death, and darkness. The small man's smile fades and Keith immediately notices, but just as he's about to say something, they all feel the castle shake.

Keith immediately lets go of Elios hands, "It's Lotor…he's here. Do whatever you need to do for Lance, but I'm going to need him sooner than later!" He says as he runs off.

Elios stares at the door Keith has just exited, deep in thought.

"Elios, are you alright?" Gorma asks.

"Yes…yes doctor. Let's see what I can do for the Lieutenant."

**********

Keith runs over to the control room, focusing his view directly at the screen as the rest of the force looks as well.

"Status report!" He yells as he comes in.

"He's only brought a couple of ships and is hitting the castle randomly, not at any particular area." Coran says.

"He just wants us to know he's here." Darrell says as he keeps his focus on the screen.

In a flash, they see the rather large fireball blast from Lotor's ship.

"He's not wasting time, is he?" Hunk states as they all see the fireball slowly getting larger.

"Get to your lions now!" Keith yells as they all turn and run towards battle.

---------

"Princess, I need you to stay as far back as possible." Keith tells Allura from their lion comm. units.

"Why?" she asks a bit flustered. "Keith, I can do this!"

"It's not that. Blue has been traveling all day. Its power is compromised. I'm going to need you to save your power until we can form Voltron."

"Keith, how the hell are we going to form Voltron if Lance isn't here?" Darrell asks troubled.

"We can't," Keith answers his friend with the same perturbed tone that Darrell has. "At least not right now." He looks ahead, the fireball explodes and after the light from the reaction ceases, they can see the beast laying ahead, waiting for them.

It is a perfectly sculpted monster, built to look like a man. Its muscles are contrite and hard. Almost nude, the only thing that covers him is a pair of shorts that appear to have been ripped by the bulged leg muscles. The monster has short blond hair, its eyes, a blood red. It has the face of a youth, but as the team gets slightly closer they notice one strange thing, he has eyes all over his body. Pairs of red and green dark eyes cover the legs, the arms, chest and stomach. He looks straight at them before assuming an attack position and letting out a harsh scream.

Keith's eyes stay on the monster, trying to look for weak spots, places to get the best hits, trying to find a way to destroy it if Voltron is not possible. Breathing a sigh of frustration, the only thing he finds that he can say to the team is, "Let's hope that Elios can give Lance back to us."

---------

Inside room eight, the same procedure that took place hours ago is about to begin once again.

Lance is lying strapped on the bed, still unconscious from the hit. Gorma had wanted to sedate him, but decided against it. If they need Lance to fight, he'll have to be ready after Elios is done with him.

Elios slowly walks to him and studies the tattoo. Seeing a stronger, richer hue than the ones Hunk and Darrell wore, his face shows immediate frustration. _'She's turned it into a warding spell.'_ He thinks. _'Oh, this isn't good, not good at all!'_

Preparing himself mentally, he closes his eyes and tries to concentrate. Once again, Elios walks towards the middle of the room and holds out both hands up in the air. He claps his hands together and holds them tightly. The hands begin turning a bright gold as he starts feeling the air surround the room. His hands begin expanding as a large golden ball forms around his hands, it grows gradually larger; the golden light determined to fill the room. But then, Elios concentration is broken, by the sounds of maniacal laughter.

He opens his eyes to see Lance looking straight at him. His eyes are green, the same shade of the glowing tattoo. He laughs, mocking Elios, mocking his power.

"You think you can stop me, healer…let's see if you can really do it!"

------

"Darrell! Guard the Princess!" Keith yells as he releases some proton missiles towards the beast and flying toward it, getting as close as possible.

"This thing is bent on hitting me!" The Princess yells as she evades the laser rays coming out of the numerous eyes of the robeast. Green dodges a couple of lasers itself before firing its eye beams to destroy other incoming rays.

"It knows you are the weak spot." Hunk says. "Maybe you should hang low for a while Princess."

"I hate to say this, but you may be right!" Allura says as she begins to turn Blue around, "If I use too much of my power, I won't be of any help when we'll need to form Voltron." She begins to turn when she hears a scream.

"Hunk!" she yells and then watches as the robeast grabs Yellow lion with its hands and starts spinning him around at incredible speeds.

"Can't….get ….loose," she hears him saying from his comm.

"Princess," she then hears Keith calling. "Fire your ice grid. Maybe we can distract him enough so I can get Hunk lose."

Allura pushes Blue close enough, "Ice Grid!" she yells as what looks like a net of solid ice emerges from her lion's mouth and wraps itself along the robeast's body.

The monster screams in pain as the grid tightens around him. He lets go of the Yellow lion, throwing him far enough to hit Green. Both lions begin to fall to the ground. The beast then breaks loose and starts spitting out fire balls from all the eyes around its body. Black and Blue dodge heavily but still manage to get hit a couple of times.

"Princess, you need to leave now! Blue will grow weaker!" Keith growls as he starts taking more hits to prevent them from hitting Blue.

"I can't just leave you here!" She yells back, "We need to get Hunk and Darrell back up."

"I have an idea." He says as he flies up, dodging the rays. He makes his way to the robeast's head and aims his stingray missiles at the monster's eyes.

"What are you going to do?" Allura asks as she watches Keith heading straight toward the beast's face within a disturbingly short distance.

"I'm going to blind the son of a bitch!"

----------

A sneering laugh fills the room as Elios tries to concentrate, ignoring Lance's mocking words and repulsive remarks. Instead, he looks within himself, finding the power he needs to release the young man from this evil that has overtaken him.

"You are powerless against me old man!" Lance tells him in an obnoxious, scornful tone. "Let me go and I'll make your death faster than I planned!"

Elios squeezes his eyes shut to focus even more, the golden ball in his hand begins to become smaller as his body begins to glow a deep rich purple. Lance begins to growl, his body begins to glow gradually turning an eerie shade of green. Elios' glow in his body begins to intensify, filling the room with a purple that overtakes the green glow that Lance carries. Lance screams as gusts of wind fly into the room.

In Elios' hand the golden light turns into a revolving purple sphere. The old man opens his eyes and rays of purple light shoot out from him. The sphere lifts into the air and the gusts of wind keep it levitating as the rays coming from Elios' eyes hit it.

Suddenly, the sphere flies towards Lance and pushes itself unto his chest, slowly entering and engulfing his body in a deep purple. Lance screams even louder, his body thrashing on the bed.

Elios walks up to Lance, grabs his arm and covers the tattoo with his own hand, wiping the evil mark from the young man's arm.

Suddenly, the sphere floats out of Lance's chest, the green light resonates from inside it, the sphere swivels up in the air and self destructs as the gusts of wind gradually make the pieces dissolve in the air.

Lance's body slumps on the bed, looking lifeless. Gradually, the wind, the light and Elios' glow begin to disappear as the room begins to look like it did before, a regular patient room.

Slowly, Elios shakes Lance to awaken him, but Lance does not stir.

-----------

Keith takes a leap of faith by attacking the robeast's monstrous red eyes, figuring that's the pair that controls the others around the body. Aiming his stingray missiles at his target, he quickly pushes the button on his controls and fires.

The beast squeals as it covers its eyes with its hands. But this action doesn't last long, for the beast takes his hands off his face and even though blood streams out of the holes which were once his eyes, he still manages to grab Black lion by its neck.

Taking its other hand, it grabs Black's mouth as it start flying down to the ground at an alarming speed. Both Green and Yellow lions, having made their way back up, start firing to stop the robeast. But the eyes in the monster's back begin attacking them at the same time.

Keith tries to get control back, but the speed and the hold that the beast has locked on him is too great. Within seconds, Keith becomes painfully aware of the horrifying crash to the hard ground that is Arus.

The beast releases its hand from the mouth of Black and opens its palm to reveal a red eye glaring straight at Keith sitting within the lion.

"Shit, he's going to burn me with its fucking ray!" Keith says as he tries to lift Black to no avail.

Slowly, the eye on the palm begins to darken. Keith can see the ray begin to form. He tries again and again to gain his release, but the robeast's forceful hand will not budge. Green, Yellow and Blue lions continue to fire missiles, but are outnumbered by the eyes that keep firing back at them.

"Keith, you need to bail out, he's going to burn you alive!" Hunk yells.

"The only way to probably stop it is to use my eye beams!" he tells him, but even with the eye beams, the monsters eye is still way to close to him. He'll only manage to hurt him, but the beast will blast him.

Trying to desperately calculate what to do with his last few seconds, he's stunned to see that the beast's head is suddenly pulled back with extreme sway by one of the lions—The Red Lion!

Keith takes the opportunity and fires the eye beams releasing Black immediately from the monster's grasp and flies up into the air.

"Lance!" Keith says excitedly. "Man, is this really you?"

"Course it's me Captain!" Lance replies jollily. "I'm gone a couple of days and look at the trouble you guys are in without me."

"Lance!" Darrell exclaims, "Thank God your back man!"

"I'm glad you guys are excited to see me," Lance says as he watches the beast regain control. "But how about we finish this first and save the mushy stuff for later."

"I'm with you brother!" Keith says as he continues into the air, "Get ready to form Voltron!"

As his words are heard, all four lions follow Black in an upside down V-position and initiate the sequence to build Voltron.

The robeast looks up and it too begins to take flight to catch up to them but it is too late, as it comes closer to them, it sees Voltron looking down on him.

Immediately the beast stands upright and all its eyes begin to flash their respective red and green rays intending to hit Voltron.

Keith pulls up the robot immediately evading as many hits as he can, but the rays still manage to hit Lance and Hunk's lions.

"Status report Darrell!" Keith demands as he tries to gain knowledge of any damage they've obtained so far.

The youngest of the five runs the numbers on the computer of Green lion, "Our thermal sensors are down. We can still receive a couple of poundings and be ok, but we'll need to get rid of this thing fast. Red and Blue's power levels are not high enough for a long battle."

"We need to get rid of this thing fast!" Allura yells.

"Wait!" Lance cuts in a low audible voice that wouldn't have been heard if Keith wasn't looking at his viewing screen. "Oh my God!"

"What? Lance, what's wrong?" Keith asks.

"I think that's one of my cadets….I think that's Nathan Summers."

-------

Lance can't believe it. No one would doubt that the robeast had once been human, but never did he imagine, it would be one of his former students. The beast doesn't look human per say, but the characteristics of his former student are there. Lance knew it was him from the moment he started studying it.

"Why?" Lance asks, almost in a heartbreaking voice. "He was just a kid. Why would they take him?"

Allura can tell he is hurting. He is about to take the life of one of his students. Someone he mentored, someone he taught, someone, who in a way, he cared for. But he has to know the truth.

"Lance," Allura says, looking at the video screen to him. "Nathan was the one who contacted Lotor. He wanted to take revenge on you. That's why you were put under the spell."

"Why would he want to take revenge on me?"

Keith is the one who speaks this time. "He was angry with you for grounding him. So he decided to take matters into his own hands. Unfortunately, he didn't know who he was dealing with."

"Stupid kid," Lance says regrettably.

"Lance, you don't have to do anything." Keith says understanding his dilemma. "Patch Red's controls over to me and I'll take over. Close your viewer."

"No," Lance says immediately. "Let's finish this." He adds but the team can hear the pain in his voice. "He knew the rules. There's nothing we can do for him now other than to put him out of his misery."

"That's fine, but how?" Allura asks, "We've tried almost everything and nothing has worked."

"How about a lion head attack" Lance inquires.

"No," Keith interjects. "His rays will burn the lions' heads along with all of you in it. We need to find another way."

"How about a high pitched noise?" Darrell asks as the idea dawns on him.

"Yeah!" Hunk says in agreement. "That might work."

"What are you guys talking about?" Keith demands while looking at both screens of Green and Yellow lions.

"You know when you asked us to devise new weapons for the lions. Well, we think we can put one to good use." Darrell states.

"We better do it fast. This thing is doing something different now!" Allura says as the other four look at their viewers to see the beast's abdomen change from its sculpted muscles with various small eyes around it, to one rather large red eye about to form a huge ray.

"You have five seconds guys, explain!" Keith yells.

"On each lion we installed high pitch sound waves, enough to cause massive destruction should we use all five at the same time." Darrell begins.

Hunk continues speaking quickly, "Yeah, Chief, it's like this; when sound is created, the energy pushes molecules back and forth in the air, parallel to the direction of the wave. The sound passes from one molecule to the next. Air is the medium of the sound. These molecules will work like invisible blasts."

"You guys are confusing the crap out of me." Lance says but doesn't lose focus on the monster about to create the blast that is about to hit them.

"I get it," Keith says ignoring Lance for a moment. "You're saying that these sound waves will hit it just as hard as if we use any other weapon, but without us getting close enough to sustain damage?"

"Yeah," Darrell says, "But harder. Believe it or not, his eyes are his weakness. Destroy the eyes, destroy the beast."

"Darrell, Hunk, let's do this now!" Keith says as the beast is about to release its blast.

"Code number M5467, Captain." Hunk says relaying the numbers so that Keith can activate the weapon.

Immediately, Keith punches in the codes. Voltron's lion heads immediately start blasting an invisible high pitch sound wave that hits the robeast like a death blow. It screams in pain shaking violently. The eyes around it suddenly start pouring out blood from the irises.

"It's our chance now Keith!" Lance yells.

"Right! Lion head attack!" he yells as the lion's heads detach from Voltron and crash through the beast's chest and abdomen. When returning to Voltron, the team sees the massive holes on the robeast. The beast growls one last time then it explodes in mid air and Lance closes his eyes with pure remorse.

-------

Lotor sits back in shock and immense anger. Sneering at the screen, he watches the beast explode before his eyes.

"No!" he screams and then looks at the witch who in turn looks just as disgusted with the events. "You said you used the new magic!"

"I did! I've never seen that weapon on Voltron before. We might have new magic on our side, but it looks like they've been evolving too."

"Let's get back. We need to regroup."

-------

From his room, Zarkon watches the battle on his monitoring screen. He merrily laughs at his son's falling grace. _'He may have new toys, but he still comes in dead last against the explorers. Some things never change.'_ He thinks to himself as he ponders what other secrets Voltron hides.

A smile emerges as an idea swoops its way to his mind. _'Yes, I think it is time to talk to the Resistance.'_

**********

Elios calls out "Come in," when he hears a knock on the door of his quarters. Dr. Gorma walks in, "I hope you rested well Elios. If you're still too tired, I can come back."

"Not at all doctor. While Lieutenant McClain's spell was a bit harder to break, I have regained my strength. I shall leave tomorrow morning if I am no longer needed."

"Elios, you may stay however long you need my friend, the Princess insists. You have been of great help to us and we could not be more appreciative." Gorma answers. He signals with his eyes if he can take a seat on one of the chairs in the room.

"Of course doctor." Elios replies, "Thank you all for your kindness." He says as he takes a chair and sits across from the doctor.

"Well, no need to thank us, we need to thank you. But Elios, I need your help with a very private matter. It deals with…"

"The Captain?" Elios cuts in.

"Well, yes." Gorma answers surprised. "How…how did you know?"

"When I met him earlier and he shook my hand, I felt something not right in him."

"That's amazing," Gorma says truly surprised.

"We healers can tell these things Doctor. But you might be more surprised at what I'm about to tell you."

**********

There was one word to describe the Voltron Force as they make their way back to the control room…tired. Excessively tired to be exact, they feel it with each step they take as they walk in.

Lance is immediately welcomed by his friends, but then excuses himself. They know he is consumed by feelings of guilt from contributing to the death of one of his students.

Before he leaves, Keith walks up to try to comfort him, "Lance, I'm going to tell you what you constantly tell me, this wasn't your fault."

Lance gives his friend a small smile before answering him, "Captain, I'm going to tell you what you always tell me. I feel like I could have and should have stopped it. Listen, I just need sometime by myself."

"I understand," Keith nods as he watches Lance walk away.

------

"You can help him, right Elios?"

Elios stands up and walks to the window in his room. "Dr. Gorma, have you ever heard of the Black Hole of Galia?"

"I believe that's where Lotor hid for two years before starting the war again."

"Yes. But there's another reason why I ask."

Not understanding Gorma questions, "Elios, what are you saying?"

"Doctor, Galia also holds some of the most powerful magic I have ever heard of or seen in my lifetime. Not many know how to handle it and those who do usually perish from practicing it."

"Is it that powerful?" Gorma inquires disappointedly.

"I wouldn't know where to begin." Elios says turning around.

------

Even though they knew a celebration was in order, no one really feels like it. It was a bittersweet victory. It was decided that to respect Lance's loss and the death of a fallen cadet, they would wait and celebrate the next day.

Darrell and Hunk eat a quick meal and go to work on fixing the small damages on the lions. Feeling that working on the lions would give them the space they need to reflect on the last few days.

Darien wanted a quiet dinner with Allura, despite Allura's wishes. But knowing she had to do her duty, she reluctantly agreed to dinner in the palace gardens.

Despite being a day full of so much action and chaos, Allura couldn't help but notice the tranquil surroundings that lay around her. The garden tonight feels peaceful, the only sounds coming from the speakers hidden around the garden that play a soft melody. A timid breeze encircles her, the scent of the flowers around her, nipping her nose.

Thoughts of the day still turn in her mind, but they are interrupted by Darien's voice,

"Dinner was exquisite tonight. Nanny must have been inspired." He says wiping his mouth with his napkin.

"Hmm…" Allura says looking back at him. "Yes, she outdid herself."

Darien nods, noting her lack of interest in the conversation for the entire night. "Allura, what's wrong? You should be happy, the Lieutenants are fine, you beat Lotor…you should be ecstatic right now."

"Of course I am Darien . Why wouldn't I be? I just tired, that's all."

"Would you be tired if you would have had dinner with the Captain and the rest of the help instead?" Darien asks annoyed.

"Let's not start an argument," Allura says as calmly as she can. "I am not about to start another battle tonight."

Darien stands up from the table, throwing the napkin beside his plate in frustration. "Allura, do you think I don't know how you feel about them? When are you going to realize that they serve _us_! They are help! Soldiers that you have dine with us almost every night as if they are part of your royal court. I've never seen such a vile display of hierarchy than in the last couple of weeks."

Allura slowly stands, looks at Darien and calmly excuses herself. "I choose not to argue tonight. Thank you for dinner Prince. Have a good night."

Walking away she's intercepted by him as he grabs her arm, "Oh, now you're going to excuse yourself to see _him_ right?"

"Is that what's really bothering you Darien…Keith?"

"I saw the way you reacted when Lance almost sliced his throat." Darien says in disgust. "If I didn't know you better, you would have given yourself away to save him."

Allura can't stand it anymore, she is about to break everything off. She doesn't care anymore. She can't live with this man, and she can't marry him either knowing that Keith is now going to be an addition to their constant battles. Then she remembers Keith's words and what she has to do for her people. It is a sacrifice, but she knows Keith will not let her live through it alone.

"I would have given myself to save him; just like I would have done for the others. They are my friends, my brothers, my family. I will not allow you to speak about them in such a manner. If you don't like it, there's the door!" She says as she walks to the garden entrance. "The choice is yours Darien." She finishes as she disappears into the castle.

Darien walks around the garden purely frustrated. _Another defeat!_ He looks at the doors that Allura has walked into. What she said is somewhat true, but what he doesn't believe is that her feelings for the Captain are only friendly affection.

____________

Since his team needed time alone and Allura is with Darien, despite his annoyance, Keith decided to take his meal in his office and work on the report he would have to send to the Admiral.

It is at around midnight when he hears a knock on his door. "Come in," he says a bit surprised to see a visitor this late at night.

Lance walks in with two things in his hands. In one hand a bottle of Scotch and in the other a brown bag.

"I thought you'd be resting by now." Keith states. He stands from his desk and follows Lance as both walk over to the small living room area in the office.

"I did. Slept for about an hour, and then went to pay my respects to Nathan's parents."

"How did they take it?"

"I was surprised. Both parents were more embarrassed about what he did than actually losing him. No wonder the kid went nuts!" Lance says in frustration. "They just gave up on him."

"That's a shame," Keith says nodding his head.

"It made me realize something Captain." Lance says looking at his friend.

"What?"

"You could have given up on me too."

"I would never do that Lance. Not anyone of you."

Lance gives a little laugh and looks into his friend's eyes, "I know Keith. Thank you. I know I was a real bastard and I'm sorry for all the things I put you and the Princess through."

"Don't mention it. I knew that wasn't you. She knows that too." Keith tells him. "So what's the occasion Lieutenant?" Keith says eyeing the bottle of Scotch in Lance's hand.

"Well, this is my thank you for saving my ass. But it's also my way of congratulating you on your new ranking." Lance says as he takes two glasses from the brown bag, opens the bottle and pours some scotch into each glass.

He hands one glass over to Keith. "Here's to you Captain," he says as they both click their glasses. Lance then sets the bottle down on the coffee table.

Noticing the strong taste, Keith looks at the bottle and sees how old and how valuable the Scotch is. "Hey, this is pretty expensive scotch. Where did you get this?"

"Dad. He got it for me after I left Arus. I was on my first leave and he saw how totally down I was. One night, after I got back to the base, he came to visit and brought two of these bottles. One for us to drink, the other for me to keep." Lance says tapping on the bottle. "He told me that he had a feeling I'd be back to Arus and that I would know when to open this to celebrate my return. I think it is safe to say, this is it." He finishes, taking a last gulp.

Pouring another drink in both glasses, Keith tells him, "I'm glad things have been going better with your father."

"Well, it wasn't easy at first. But I'm thankful that, even though, we don't see eye to eye at times, we can at least share a drink." Lance says taking his glass. He takes another gulp before setting the glass down. "This brings me to the second purpose of my visit."

He takes the bag and pulls out a medium rectangular black box and hands it to him, "The Admiral gave me this when he thought you were MIA."

Keith takes it, looks at it, feeling a bit nostalgic. "I haven't seen this box in four years." He says as he looks for the key to open it. He stops midway and looks over at Lance, "Did you open it?"

Lance nods, first feeling a bit frightened by what Keith might think, but he didn't want to lie to him, "Yes…I did. I was shocked to hear you were thought of as dead. I'm sorry."

Keith opens the box and starts looking inside, "Don't be. At first, I didn't have any executive to my will or my belongings at the base. After knowing you for about a year, I couldn't think of anyone else better to trust."

"Thank you." Lance answers him genuinely flattered.

"You saw pictures of my parents?" Keith asks taking the pictures out of the black box.

"Yeah, good looking parents you got there. Don't know what happened to you." Lance playfully mocks him.

Keith lets out a light laugh, "I had a hard time dealing with their deaths. It's still very hard to talk about them."

"Who raised you?"

"The academy," he states matter-in-factly. "All the way to graduation."

"I never met you…" Lance questions.

"Guess we missed each other." Keith says not looking at him. "Thank you for bringing this back to me."

'_He's still not ready to talk, why?'_ Lance says to himself, '_but at least he said something_.' "Anytime my friend. Well, I should be heading to bed. I take it we have lion practice tomorrow.

"0600 hours. Sharp."

"Yep," Lance says sarcastically, "It's _great_ to be back." as he stands up to walk out.

"Lance, your bottle?" Keith says as he walks over to hand it to him.

"Keep it in here. For the next apology or celebration, whichever comes first." He says and then walks out.

Keith walks back to the living area and looks again at his box. He sees the hilt of the black sword and picks it up looking at it with his stoic eyes. He sets it down and looks at the black pouch and takes out the rings, looking at them with a hint of sadness as wistful thoughts enter his mind.

********

Darien walks around his room unable to sleep. His mind racing back to that scene in the control room when the now Captain was held captive by one of his own men. He doesn't care for the Captain, that isn't what is bothering him. It was Allura's face when that was happening.

It was a look of panic, _for him_. For _her leader_!

It disgusted him. How could she fall in love with a pathetic pilot, who's only ranking is that of the Terran army.

His thoughts keep stirring, '_Here Allura is engaged to one of the most powerful men in this Galaxy and she's crying over a mere commoner. How sick, how low, are her standards?'_

But he isn't going to let this happen. He is going to change his tactic and by God, he is going to make Allura fall in love with him one way or another!

**********

Knowing that it is almost two in the morning and that he has lion practice in a couple of hours, Keith makes his way to MedTech. He needs to sleep. He was already dozing off in his office, but cringes at the thought of falling asleep for fear of another frightening nightmare; feeling that each one sucks a bit of his life away from him.

He knocks on Dr. Gorma's office door, knowing that again the doctor is doing his night rounds.

"Captain, you look like you're about to collapse."

"I'm exhausted Doctor but I just can't sleep. This spell is extremely frustrating. I haven't really slept in two nights. Lion practice is tomorrow. I can't afford any mistakes."

"Keith, I'm working with Elios to find someone who can help you."

"He can't?" Keith asks disappointedly.

"No," Gorma says shaking his head. "He said this spell is quite different. But don't worry, we'll find a way to stop it."

"Well, I was wondering about what you gave me to wake me up after Lance knocked me out. Maybe I can use that to wake me up?"

"Keith, that is a pretty powerful drug. Using too much of it might make you addicted to it. As the spell takes a stronger effect on you, you'll need stronger dosages. I don't know if that's the best option."

"I don't have a choice for the moment. I need something. Doctor, I need to be able to function. If the Prince finds out, he'll want to take over and he's far from ready to command."

"I know." Gorma sighs, "Here's what will do. I'll inject a small dosage every night. Should the spell start to take effect when it reaches its climax; the drug will take effect and wake you up. You'll still feel the side effects of the spell, but at least you won't be in it for long."

Keith sighs in frustration, but nods in agreement since there is no other choice he has at the moment.

"Alright doctor."

"Fine, have a seat. Let me get the first dosage."

**********

Zarkon waits until the guard finally leaves his post to enter the control room. He quickly makes his way in and makes contact. The last couple of times, it has become easier to establish contact since now; he has become part of their team, even though the leader has yet to reveal himself.

He establishes contact and the hidden voice comes in.

"Zarkon, we weren't expecting you for the moment."

"I just wanted to tell you that the Voltron force defeated Lotor once again."

"We are glad to hear it. But that's not really our concern."

"But it is. Voltron is the key to finding Lotor's weakness."

"What do you mean?"

"Meet me somewhere and I'll explain."

The voice pauses for a moment and then speaks, "Why should we meet?"

"Because you need to realize that I am on your side. I will be faithful. But also, I don't have time to explain my plan, and I won't do it here."

"Fine. Contact us in two days, we should have a meeting place and time by then."

"I will." He says before he cuts transmission.

Quickly Zarkon erases the logs and walks out of the control room, unbeknownst that he was being watched.

To be continued in…."My Own Worst Enemy"


End file.
